What if
by Possessive Otaku
Summary: What if the night Shion saved Nezumi something happened? What if the kiss meant something? What if a spark was created between them? What if… they fell in love? *FOCUSING ON ANOTHER STORY AND COLLEGE WORK BEFORE I UPDATE FURTHER*
1. Prologue

**First multi chapter story and t** **rust me; chapters WILL be longer.**

* * *

Nezumi hit the wall, choking on oxygen at the impact, but he forced himself to breathe and pushed himself off the wall. He needed to keep on moving because he needed to survive. Nezumi had no choice but to ignore the wounds bleeding out on his skin and the sores stabbing at his feet because run or die were his only two options. He was _not_ planning on dying today - not here at least. There were only three men, so Nezumi could easily outrun them. The guns didn't matter because his arms were already covered with deep scratches from them. He heard more footsteps and Nezumi swore under his breath. More men were joining them. However, he wasn't going to let his legs give up, even if all he could hear were the screams of pain they released.

Suddenly, there was light.

His eyes widened and he picked up speed, nearly tripping. This was his chance; Nezumi would be free once more. Nezumi got to the light and he nearly froze in shock, but he had to keep going. He hasn't seen the sun in what's seemed like years, but Nezumi wouldn't freeze up now, because he couldn't die now. He ran to the light and that's when he saw it... bars on the windows.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Nezumi screamed.

Nezumi had no choice but to stop at the bars and his hands gripped them, willing for them to pull apart so he could survive but they were too strong for a weak and malnourished body like his. Nezumi wanted to cry, but what tears that were left in him had been beaten out of him. Growling, he pulled on them with all of his forced, but, of course, that wasn't good enough. Nezumi heard footsteps getting closer and a bullet echoing, jumping from the walls. He put his forehead up against the cool bars and gripped them tighter in frustration.

Nezumi couldn't hold it in any longer and within a few seconds he was screaming.


	2. Screams

**Thank you for your lovely reviews! The updates may be monthly but do not worry because I will finish this story if it kills me! Chapters may be s** **hort and sweet, but fear not, for the pace will pick up... in theory.  
**

* * *

 _Safu could wait, the lecture could wait, Shion's exams could wait. It was as though someone was calling him and he'd be damned if he would ignore them. His sight went to the window, face serious. Eyes scanned the surrounding area before Shion started to smile. The wind was picking up and the leaves were starting to dance._

 _A storm was brewing._

 _Shion watched grey clouds outline the city, light gracing the darkness and flashing like a camera through the clouds. Shion's heart pounded in anticipation of tonight, because if a storm was brewing then the rain would be torrential, wind would be a tornado and the thunder would be booming. Shion closed his eyes and let his imagination run wild. He was floating in the air; leaves waltzing around him and holding him up in the air. Shion could have snorted because this entire scenario was such a cliché. The leaves weren't really dancing around him, rather, they were hitting his skin, but here in his little world it was like everything had to be exaggerated and that's what made everything so perfect._

 _Wind breezed through his hair, his brown locks hitting his face. Shion opened his eyes and watched the storm grow closer. He wanted to be in the centre of it; to be in the middle of that storm and feel the rain hitting his face and drenching his clothes. Shion had to be patient, but he was never patient. However, he couldn't control the weather so he had no choice. Falling back, Shion's body slowly started to disappear, like he was becoming one with the storm. He sighed, his body finally hitting the point of relaxation. Nothing else mattered and nothing else could come close to what he was feeling right now._

"STOP TALKING!"

Snapped out of it, Shion's eyes were immediately at the front, coming into contact with Safu's very angry pair. He winced, face a look of horror. Was she angry at him? "I'm trying to do a presentation here!" Shion sighed in relief. He could live another day.

A classmate snorted. "It's not our fault we're talking."

Shion's eyes went to the offending character with a soft and almost scared expression, because the boy didn't know what beast he'd just unleashed.

"It's just so boring and when it's coming from someone who's, obviously, not even from this century I'm gonna wanna leave."

"Use proper English," Shion muttered to himself, which was a bit ironic because they were Japanese. The only reason they spoke in English was because they were supposedly 'above everyone else' and needed English to prove that because, stereotypically, English was the language everyone spoke. A bit egotistically really, but if Shion complained he'd just get kicked off the course and he couldn't afford that. Now, getting back to Safu, Shion could almost hear the gears working in her head, thinking of what to say or what to do. For once he wished that there was a tutor in the room to control Safu's anger because from the glint in her eyes he knew she was about to do something stupid. Whenever she got angry like this she just saw red and would take out her anger on anyone, in anyway and at any time. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Safu did a war like screech and all but jumped on the offending character. Jumping to his feet, Shion watched on in horror whilst his best friend started to try adn strangle one of their classmates. All Shion could do was stutter in efforts of stopping the fight. However, his efforts were all in vain, because nothing was going to stop this fight. Just when he thought Safu was actually going to go too far and kill this guy, the tutors walked in. Shion looked up at their frustrated eyes and sighed, falling back onto his chair and watching as they tried to break up the fight. His eyes went back to the window, trying to ignore the shouting in the background and go back to his, if you could call it, happy place, but, alas, his dreams had been demolished by the sound of Safu's voice.

* * *

 _"ASSHOLES!" Nezumi shouted, growling when another bullet whizzed passed him, cutting into his flesh. He had no idea where he was going because the first way but was blocked. He was told that it would have been blown up, cut open, anything, but no, of course it wasn't, because a rat trusting a dog was like a cat trusting a fucking mouse._

* * *

As soon as they climbed onto the coach Shion knew that Safu was still angry. Great, a whole 30 minutes of silence and small words from Shion to try to make it up to the girl. The coach ride had been silent for what seemed like hours, Shion not saying anything, yet, in fear of getting shouted at and Safu not saying anything in case she lost it. The silence was begging to be filled with something… anything, but Safu wasn't backing down and Shion was too scared in case he said the wrong thing. Shion bit his lip, looking to the side of him and reading Safu's expression but that just told him what he already knew; Safu was pissed. They couldn't go the rest of the day without speaking so even if his words would anger Safu, Shion forced himself to say something, "so… your presentation was-"

"Don't go there," Safu warned the other, turning her head and shooting him a glare before she set her eyes back onto the road behind them.

"I thought it was good," Shion murmured, looking away and slowly starting to regret his word choice.

"You weren't even listening to me," Safu whined, pouting, glaring out at the open road so she didn't have to make eye contact with Shion.

"I was listening."

"Really, because it wasn't that obvious" Safu muttered with a snort, rolling her eyes when Shion's response was only a sigh of defeat.

Wanting to make amends, Shion racked his mind for anything, smiling when something he'd read early in the day hit him. He looked back over at Safu. "Human uniqueness is based upon the existence of an ego."

"Are you saying I have an ego now!?" Safu snapped, glare now sat directly on Shion but he didn't flinch, instead he smiled which made Safu's glare harden. He was waiting for the words the register, but when they didn't he just smiled even more.

"No; they're the ones with the ego. They need to have their voices heard above others to add to their ego."

When Safu's glare didn't soften Shion just set his sights back in front of him. The words finally registered in Safu's head and soon enough she was humming, smile curling across his lips andthe glare disappeared. She turned around, falling back onto the seat. Shion flinched, turning his head with a shocked expression and watching when Safu started kicking her legs in front of her and closed her eyes in happiness, arm reaching out and linking with Shion's as the air around her immediately changed from anger to glee. Laughing gently, Shion smiled and set his sights in front of him; happy that his friend wasn't angry anymore, well, angry at him anyways.

* * *

 _Nezmi knew he was going to pass out from exhaustion soon, but with each gasp and choke of a breath he took, it was just another reminder that he was alive and he was going to get through this; he was going to survive._

* * *

"Happy birthday!"

Shion's eyes widening in shock, stuttering, "I-I-I... what?"

Safu rolled her eyes as she made her way over to him, linking their arms together and dragging him over to her grandma. "Have you forgotten that it's your birthday?" Shion opened his mouth to speak but Safu cut him off by thrusting something purple and woolly into his hands. "Grandma knitted you this."

"Thank you grandma," Shion whispered as he stretched the piece of clothing out in front of him and admired its beauty.

"Grandma knitted it purple because your name is from a kind of purple flower."

"I didn't even know."

"Well now you do!" Safu exclaimed, rushing past Shion. "I'll put the candles on the cake now." Before Shion could even offer his assistance, Safu read his mind. "I don't need any help."

He heard a gentle chuckle and smiled, going to sit beside grandma. He sighed and watched Safu running around the kitchen with his birthday preparations. He was happy to have a best friend who cared about his birthday this much, but he enjoyed a calm atmosphere and with Safu you were going to get everything but just that. However, he couldn't really complain because although she was loud and sometimes obnoxious, he was kind and warm-hearted. He smiled softly at Safu. When she was older, any man would be lucky enough to marry her.

"I'm glad you liked your present."

Shion jumped slightly at the voice before he nodding, turning to look at grandma. "It was lovely."

"Safu instructed me to make it matching to hers, she's really taken a liking to you." A blush dusted Shion's cheeks and nose at the words. He knew that Safu had an attachment towards him, but he didn't know how far it went and, to be honest, Shion really didn't know if what he felt was love towards a sister or love towards a partner. He just wasn't ready for that conversation yet. Grandma seemed to sense his discomfort so with a chuckle she finished up her knitting and looked over at Shion. "I'm only teasing."

"Ye-Yeah."

Before the atmosphere could become awkward, Safu entered the living room with a cake covered in candles. Another good point about Safu; a situation was never awkward when she was involved.

"Happy birthday!" She shouted again when she placed the plate on Shion's lap. "Blow them out and make a wish," she whispered, standing beside grandma with her hands on her hips, both waiting in anticipation for the cake.

Shion thought for a moment because he never wasted a wish.

Even though it was only an old wives tale and Shion wouldn't be shocked if his wish didn't come true, he still didn't want to waste it for that one hope of getting a wish that actually came true. Looking up he saw Safu's impatient body language, forcing herself to be patient because Shion did this every time, whilst grandma waited patiently, unconsciously hoping that Shion's wish would come true. With one last thought Shion made his wish.

* * *

 _"God, why do you fucking hate me?" Nezumi screeched, trying to outrun the guards, but with an arm that was bleeding him dry and bare feet that were cut to pieces from the stones on the ground, it was a very hard task. Nezumi found a corner that hid him away in the darkness and he dropped to his knees, stopping in his tracks before freezing when the men ran past him; this would do for now._

 _"I need to get out of here," Nezumi whispered to himself, flinching when he pressed too hard on the gash on his arm. Voices neared Nezumi once more. Nezumi couldn't move his body. He was frozen in fear, but not at the men, his fear was at the chance of never seeing the light of day again._

* * *

"I really do like my present," Shion said, fingering the hem of his new jumper and relishing in how warm and cosy it made him feel. As cheesy and clichés as it was, he felt like it was the warmth of grandma and Safu surrounding him – the warmth of family.

"Well, seeing as I can't do anything else for you, I'm glad it's good enough," Grandma didn't mean to sound so depressing, but it was true; there wasn't much else she could do for anyone except… knit. It was just the way society worked, sadly.

Shion's smile dropped at grandma's words, feeling guilty at not being able to give her the sympathy she craved. Before he could attempt to say anything, however, Safu called him over and soon enough he was being dragged into a walk in wardrobe. He'd given up complaining because even if he did he knew that Safu would just roll her eyes and drag him away anyways.

"Grandma made me all of these!" She exclaimed, gesturing the racks of knitted clothing around her.

Shion's eyes widened and the smile of his face reappeared. "Wow, they're all beauti-"

"Beautiful I know," Safu interrupted with a wink. Chuckling softly, Shion watched as Safu danced around the racks – shouting their beauty to the world and modelling them on the racks for Shion as though he didn't see how wonderful they actually were. Inside, Shion was wishing that he could stay like this forever; right now all he wanted for his birthday was his best friend and grandma.

However, that's not how forever worked.

Shion glanced at his watch, eyes widening slightly. "I-I have to get home!"

Safu's expression dropped and she stopped admiring the jumpers and gave Shion her full attention. "What? Why?" She whined.

"I'd love to stay, but my mum'll start to get worried."

Safu pouted. "Fine!" She exclaimed. "But tomorrow I expect you to stay the night."

Shion tensed up, blushing. "We haven't done that in-in-in years!" He spluttered.

"Well this is different; we're older now. Get your bike and I'll tell grandma you're going." Shion nodded like a robot before he smiled and shook his head. Safu was really something.

* * *

 _Nezumi smirked. He was finally outside. He was running in the rain like a madman, but he wasn't trapped anymore. However, suddenly the world started to spin and he nearly fell into a wall. He looked to his arm and frowned. The wound wasn't as bad as this before. Suddenly, he fell against a wall, collapsing to the floor. Nezumi clutched his arm in horror. He was going to bleed out._

* * *

Whilst Safu dragged Shion out of her house, Shion smiled. He could sense the typhoon nearing the city and right now (to him) that would be the best birthday present he could ask for. All Shion wanted was to dance in the torrential rain and mask out all of the sound from the wind hitting his ears. The rain pounded heavily as they stopped at the doorway and Shion focused on the water falling from the sky instead of Safu's uncertainty in her expression; she would ask him to stay over but right now Shion just wanted to go home and enjoy the storm.

"Your new jumper will get wet," she hinted, hoping Shion would agree and stay over but she knew that even if she went outright and said it he wouldn't stay over. A downside to their friendship was that Shion would prefer to catch a cold as long as he could be there… in the centre of a typhoon.

"It'll be fine; your grandma knits well so it'll stay together," Shion spoke with his eyes still on the rain, tearing his gaze away because h could almost imagine the expression Safu would be wearing from his rudeness; it wasn't his fault he loved typhoons so much. "Tell her again that I appreciate her present."

Safu pouted, hands on her hips as she asked, "and what about me? Where's my thank you?" Shion shrugged his shoulders, ignoring the pout and ignoring the argument that would take place at his words. It was just a bit of fun after all.

"It was technically a present from your grandma; she was the one who knitted it whilst you told her what colour yarn to use."

"I did get you a present," Safu whispered, almost in embarrassment, as her hands dropped from her hips and she stared down at them as she wrung them out in front of her.

Shion ignored the body language because he just thought it was a 'girl thing' to do. "Oh yeah?"

Safu smiled, reaching out and put a hand to Shion's shoulder before she hesitantly leaned forward and planted a kiss to his cheek. Shion's eyes widened slightly at the movement before Safu pulled away and smiled tenderly. "Happy birthday Shion." His hand went to his cheek, frozen in shock because Safu's hand was still on his shoulder and their faces were so close together. Was this it? Was this the moment their friendship would be forced to change forever? Thankfully someone upstairs sensed his discomfort because soon enough the air was filled with what sounded like crying. Safu dropped her hand from Shion's shoulder and gaped. "Shion! The moon! It's crying!" Shion looked out at the direction of the sound, smiling and relishing in the loud cries. He rarely heard the moon cry nowadays, so when he did he didn't waste the opportunity of listening. All he wanted to do was savour the sound just like he would savour the typhoon once it hit the city.

Safu smiled, eyes going to Shion's bright expression. "I guess typhoons aren't all that bad if you get to hear the moon cry."

* * *

 _Nezumi needed to stop the bleeding. If the bleeding didn't stop then soon he'd be dead._

 _The rain pounded heavily, hitting Nezumi's skin like tiny bullets and seeping into his open wound, making him hiss in pain, but he forced himself to stay strong -_ _there was nothing else he could do afterall. Nezumi hissed, standing, forcing himself to stand and gripping his arm tighter when the blood seemed to pour out faster and more freely. Nezumi needed to get out of here. Staying in one place for too long would end up in in him getting captured and he couldn't go through that again._

 _Growling, he gripped his arm tighter in the hopes it would stem the flow of blood, water dripping down his face whilst he forced himself to pull it together. Nezumi couldn't get caught now; he'd come too far and he'd be damned if he was going to give up._

 _Nezumi sighed angrily, wanting to scream but he couldn't, in fear of attracting attention, although from whom he wouldn't know. Nobody was out in this rain; it was torrential and nobody was stupid enough to be out at a time like this. Nezumi could have laughed but now wasn't the time for laughing; it was the time for finding somewhere dry, treating to his wounds and then escaping No. 6._

 _Just when he thought there might not be an escape, he heard it... he heard a scream._

* * *

By the time Shion got home the rain had drenched his windows and had drenched his clothes. He should have changed into fresh ones in case he caught a cold, but all he wanted to do was savour the feeling of the rain dripping down his skin and the cold air biting into it. Shion sighed and his hands went to his French windows before he pushed down on the handles and the typhoon's wind instantly filled the room and pulled the windows from his hands. Curtains flew as wind and rain flew into the room and Shion all but ran out into the open air, hands going to the railings as he screamed at moon.

To anyone walking past he would have seemed like a mad man but nothing wrong with him. Although Shion didn't quite know why he was screaming he didn't care. He felt the pull towards it and he couldn't ignore it.

His voice filled the air and he savoured the feel of tiny bullets hitting his skin and the wind sending a searing pain of coldness through his veins. The wind and rain drowned out Shion's screaming so it was like he was the crying moon begging to be heard.

Shion breathed in deeply before he screamed once more.

This time he didn't know what he was doing.

Was he screaming for help or was he screaming in response to the moon?

Even though the questions whizzed around his head he ignored them. All he cared about right now was the rain, the typhoon and his screaming.

When Shion finished screaming he hesitated as though he were waiting for an answer before he walked back into his bedroom, about to shut the windows when the alarms went off. He rushed over to his keypad and punched in a few numbers, gasping and freezing in shock when a cold voice rang through the air.

"Move if you want to die."


	3. Help

**Hopefully it won't turn into monthly updates...**

* * *

"Move if you want to die."

Shion's breathing hitched in his throat, hands clenching and unclenching at the voiceof the stranger. Slowly, Shion turned around. His eyes took in the feminine look of the stranger and then landing on the arm he was holding tightly. Gulping, Shion's lips parted, about to speak, but before he could the wind knocked his light from his desk and in that second of distraction his back ended up against the wall and a hand wound its way around his throat. Shion's eyes widened at the movement, before his gaze softened slightly. The hold around his throat wasn't too hard which meant the stranger didn't (in theory) want to harm him, well, too much anyways. Again, Shion's eyes went to the strangers wounded arm, watching as the blood flowed freely from it because of the pressure that was keeping it somewhat stable having been lifted.

"You're bleeding… your arm… it's bleeding," Shion whispered, voice slightly hoarse and shaky. What he pointed out was obvious but he was too scared to care. He licked his dry lips with his tongue, but he didn't know why, because his mouth felt like it was filled with sand.

The stranger seemed to snarl in response but before he reactd to waht Shion had said, the monitor beside them started to ring and the hand around Shion's throat tightened. Shion closed his eyes, thinking this was it before he forced himself to react. If he could get the stranger to believe he wouldn't call for help would. Knowing he had nothing to lose Shion opened his eyes and moved his hand up, the strangers' eyes following the hand and the hand around his neck tightening when Shion hit the monitor with his knuckles.

After a few moments of silence a woman voice broke it, "Shion, the house feels like the temperatures decreasing, so please don't tell me your doors open again."

Shion gulped and he tried to steady his breath as he stared into the strangers' hypnotic eyes. "They are."

The stranger seemed to like the response because the grip didn't change. A groan was heard. "Shion, you're going to catch a cold or even flood the house! Just close the door and come upstairs of dinner."

Shion licked his dry lips once more. He pressed a button and the doors creaked close. "I will but… mum." Nails dug into his skin but Shion made no noise – he only winced from the pain. This was his chance. All Shion had to say was help and his mum would save him, well, what's left of him because the attacker didn't seem to mind becoming a murderer if he wasn't already one. The stranger was ready to attack and then make a break for it but Shion wasn't ready to give up. He wasn't going to let the stranger get away without an explanation. For once he wanted a stranger, who was about to kill him, to stay ,unwelcomed, in his room. "I'm working on a report so I don't have time for dinner."

The stranger frowned at Shion's calm statement. His hand loosened around Shion's neck before he gained some sense and tightened his hold again. It felt like a century had gone by, which made the stranger think that this was some sort of 'help me' code he and his mother had built before the woman finally spoke again, "okay, I guess the special course is rough, huh?"

Shion wanted to groan. Right now wasn't the time for a conversation. He and his mum had a strained relationship, but right now wasn't the best of times to put some effort into starting up a conversation. He held in the groan and forced a smile to grace his lips, but the stranger's expression didn't move an inch.

He wasn't amused.

"Right now I've got a lot to take care of so I'll eat later, is that okay?"

"Just… don't push yourself too hard; it's not live or die situation."

Oh the irnoy.

Shion's smile dropped and he pressed the end call button, cutting off the call and cutting off his only chance of getting rid of the stranger. However, just when he thought he'd get strangled the hold on his loosened and the stranger dropped his hand from Shion's neck at a slow pace. Shion didn't move until the hand was dropped completely, thinking that if he moved the stranger would lash out in fear of getting caught. To Shion the stranger was like a cat; helpless but too scared to let his guard down. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and took a step forward, the stranger tensing up and getting in an offensive pose. Shion forced himself not to run in case the stranger fought him, instead he increased the pace of his walk and finally tore his gaze away from those grey hypnotic eyes. Never had he seen eyes quite like these before; they were… beautiful.

He banished those thoughts from his head. Before he started to stare into a pair of eyes mesmerizingly he needed to gain the strangers trust – he needed to help him.

"I need to stop the blood flow."

As Shion went in search of a first aid box the stranger watched him, body slowly relaxing when he came to see the citizen not as a threat, but as a way out.

* * *

 _"He was last seen heading to Ward 3 but it's been two hours since he left the correctional facility and now we've lost sight of him."_

 _"Lost sight… of him," a bored voice drawled out._

 _The line on the other side was silent for a moment before he heard the phone being passed over (something that the man would be soon regretting) to someone else and a gruff voice spoke, "Sir, it wasn't our fault, I can assure you that we had all the measures in place for success but that rat-"_

 _"Measures!" The voice almost shouted, laughing uncontrollably and shocking the man on the other end. This is when the man would be regretting asking for the phone. For a few seconds the man laughed before he sighed deeply and wiped his eyes in a fake manner, "What a load of shit? No... wait. That whole sentence was a load of shit," The man on the other side of the line still silent but although he seemed calm his body language said otherwise. The way his grip tightened on the phone at those words and the way the amused man heard his breath quicken told him everything he needed to know. "Listen, I don't pay you to fuck around, I pay you to get me answers dammit."_

 _"But Sir-"_

 _"No buts because it's simple… I give you money and you give me answers."_

 _The line was silent for a moment before finally the man spoke, "what would you have me do, Sir?"_

 _"I would have you come to my office and explain it to me properly; explain to me how you lost sight of that damn rat when I told you absolutely everything you had to do – which wasn't a lot I might add," The man hissed, all sense of amusement gone from him as he did so. His expression turned nasty and his face was scowling. "And don't think you'll get away with a slap on the wrist, now, I'll see you very soon; ta, ta for now."_

Click

 _The line went dead._

* * *

"OW! I thought you were going to help me, not hurt me even more!"

Shion rolled his eyes. "It's either this or I watch you bleed out, so stop being a wuss. How did you even get a wound like this?"

"It's a bullet wound; I was shot," the words rolled off the stranger's tongue so calmly that Shion thought he'd misheard the man.

"Shot! By a gun!"

"Yes, by a gun, waht else shoots bullets?"

"But I thought only the hunting club were allowed a gun!"

The stranger looked away, smirking. "They are, but the type of hunting these men get up to involve the animals to be human."

Shion faltered for a moment. He wondered how the stranger could be smirking at this piece of information but before he could go berserk of human rights he bit his tongue. He couldn't get in too deep. Ha. Wow. Taking in a stranger that almost killed him meant he was in too deep. Trying to compose himself Shion asked, "what do you mean?"

The stranger nearly rolled his eyes. "Here in No. 6 there are three types of people; the ones who hunt, the ones who are hunted and people like you; the ones who are oblivious to what No. 6 really is."

Shion bit his tongue and looked at his lap. After the shock of the injured stranger entering his house and the fear of the hands around his throat Shion had learnt one thing. Nothing surprised him anymore. He was even comfortable with the stranger being in his house because he was actually okay to get along with. Sure, he'd tried to kill Shion, but the way Shion saw it was that he was trying (in his own way) to get help. Plus, this was the first time something like this had happened and he'd be damned if he was going to let the adventure stop at his own death. He shook his head, he needed to concentrate in order to help the stranger. "I need to stitch it up, but first hold the gauze there."

The stranger complied before he frowned at the words, eyes widening at the syringe Shion was holding so proudly, "Oh hell no! Are you even practising to become a Doctor?" The look on Shion's face told him otherwise. Snorting the stranger shook his head, wanting to cross his arms over his chest but because of his injury he decided against it. "I'm not going to let a stranger stick a needle in me." Nezumi tsked and muttered under his breath. "Not like you're even asking for my name though."

"Shion."

"Excuse me."

"My name… its Shion. It turns out it's a name of a flower," Shion explained further at the unasked question, smiling. Nezumi showed no sign of caring or uncaring at the words so Shion's smile widened.

The stranger tensed up for a moment, wondering how… _Shion_ could look so darn happy all the time when he'd nearly been murdered. His lips parted and he hesitantly spoke, "Nezumi."

Shion's smile faltered at the information. The name was strange, but Nezumi was strange so it suited him. "Nezumi," Shion whispered, testing the name on his lips whilst holding the needle to Nezumi's skin, watching the injured man for guidance before Nezumi rolled his eyes and looked away. After he pierced the skin he was quick to empty out the syringe. "After this it'll feel numb and you shouldn't be able to feel me stitch you up."

"I better not."

When Shion pulled out the needle he placed it on the floor and frowned whilst he looked through the first aid kit. "You know, at first I thought you were a murderer." Shion either ignored or didn't even notice that Nezumi tensed up and gave the brunette a warning glance. "But now, I don't know, you seem… nice... Nezumi." Shion added the last part because he wanted to get used to saying the stranger's name.

It rolled off the tongue.

At first Nezumi thought he'd heard it wrong. Was this boy just the meaning of naivety? Shaking his head Nezumi looked away, still wary of the boy but now slowly dropping his defences because how could a boy this naive be a threat to him. Nezumi cracked a small smile, forgetting the situation he was in for a moment before dropped the smile and going back to being serious, "Brat."

* * *

The rain was still pelting hard on the glass, wind threatening to shatter the glass but at this point Nezumi was just thankful he'd found somewhere to sleep whilst the storm passed over. He watched the rain for a moment, looking out for anyone suspicious. He smirked at the word. Suspicious. Hell, he was the suspicious one. Looking back he watched Shion pour out something hot to drink. Yes, he was suspicious and Shion was naive. A match made in Heaven. Note the sarcasm.

Eyes landed on a purple girlish looking jumper on the couch and he picked it up, testing the weight of it as he spoke, "your tastes a bit off."

"Take a look at yourself."

Nezumi tsked. Damn brat, he thought as he walked up the steps to the bed, hearing a pair of feet following him a distance behind. Nezumi was quick to take off his shirt; wanting to get the jumper on before he froze to death from his wet clothes.

By the time Shion got to his bed he caught a glimpse of a scar on Nezumi's upper back. He longed to know where it came from but he bit his tongue and waited until Nezumi had sat down. There was time for that later. He handed Nezumi the hot drink before moving to lean against the balcony, watching as his new friend, or rather, acquaintance, took a tentative sip. Smiling, Shion took a sip out of his own mug, sighing at the warmth that seeped down his throat.

"Say, are you this defenceless with everyone?"

Shion was at a loss for words before he frowned. He'd helped Nezumi so why start being rude all of a sudden. "Well I wouldn't have helped you if you didn't look like a girl," Shion closed his eyes, making hand gestures with a smug expression as he exclaimed, "you were about to collapse from the blood loss and you were injured so how could I refuse you?" Shion opened his eyes. Frowning and looking at his mug when realisation hit him. Why did he let this stranger into his house. "I-I don't… know."

Nezumi was shocked at the words. Everyone he'd ever met had a Motive for everything but this boy was… well… this boy was so different. He smiled tenderly and looked down at his mug. It made him feel warm.

"Thank you."

* * *

Sighing, Karan leant further back in my chair. It wasn't strange for Shion to not want to eat with her but it still hurt. Karan banished those selfish thoughts from her head. What kind of mother would Karan be if she forced him to eat with me instead of allowing him to finish a serious report? He was thinking about his future and she should be supporting him. One meal skipped is nothing in comparison to what Shion's future held for him. Karan smiled as she looked at the band on my arm, being drawn to the flashing so in a few moments she'd keyed in a few buttons and was watching some breaking news. Pictures and logos of No. 6 flashed on the screen before the broadcast began.

 _Early this morning, near the Lost Town area, Prisoner VC103221 escaped while being transferred to the West Block Correctional Facility._

A boy appeared on the screen and Karan frowned. He looked young enough to be my son! Twelve. He looked twelve years old! Karan sighed, thankful that my Shion hadn't turned out like that. Though they were the same age they were complete opposites. For once Karan was grateful.

 _He is suspected to have fled into the Chronos Region and a designated area has been marked for restricted entry._

 _ **Reply acknowledged.**_

There was no more necessary information to watch. Karan ended the broadcast because nothing else was of interest to her and she'd made note of the prisoner so the authorities would tick her off the list so to speak. That's when she heard footsteps. Setting her arm back onto her lap Karan waited until Shion was in sight and gave him a small smile. He returned it, but it seemed more strained than anything else.

"Have you finished your report yet?" Karan tried not to sound hopeful, but inside Karan was really hoping that Shion would have time to sit and eat with me. The look on his face told me to think otherwise.

"Not yet."

She watched him wander over to the kitchen and when he was behind her, she closed her eyes and tried to think of something to say. The report. That could start a conversation. "There's a message form the Security Bureau; be sure to read and reply."

"I will."

Conversation ender I wanted to mutter as Karan opened my eyes but I bit my tongue. The fridge opened and Karan stood up, walking over to the kitchen counter to carry on stirring the broth. Karan watched Shion key in a few buttons before the report began. I frowned. Was Shion… shocked? I shook my head. Of course anyone would be shocked at a boy his age being a prisoner. My eyes stayed on Shion. Karan didn't suspect anything, but the reaction was still strange. "I wonder what he did."

"Y-Yeah, me too."

A stutter. I eyed the bow of broth and thought of what the reactions meant. It was… unusual from Shion. "He has a VC chip inside him so they'll be able to track him." There was no response but she held in a sigh. "Alright, time for dinner." She looked up. Shion was still looking at the report, a bemused expression written on his features. "Shion… are you alright?"

"Oh, it's nothing, but… erm… can I ask you a favour?"

* * *

Shion had been gone a long time. Nezumi had heard soft murmurs but now all he could hear was the rain and the wind. He didn't like not knowing what was happening or what was going to happen. All Nezumi had been doing since Shion left was staring at the ceiling. It'd been nicer if the ceiling had patterns, but, alas, it didn't so all Nezumi had to do was have a staring competition with the white ceiling. _Click._ Blinking, Nezumi pushed himself up fast enough to see a stream of light coming into the bedroom. The door shut with another soft click but when it looked like Shion was heading for the light switch Nezumi had to step in, "No lights."

A groan. "How will find my way to the bed?"

The rat laughed, "Can you not walk freely in your own room?" Nezumi smiled as he fell back to the mattress, listening as the brunette made his way, hesitantly, up the stairs.

"I'm not usually awake at night like some people."

Nezumi huffed and closed his eyes, smiling proudly as he exclaimed, "I'm a rat after all!"

"VC10 etcetera, don't you mean? You're all over the news, don't you know?" Shion questioned. Nezumi's smile dropped and his eyes opened. He looked straight ahead as he pushed himself back up. Too bad, he thought as Shion walked up the steps, I thought you were different. He waited until he could tell whether Shion was near him before Nezumi moved to a crouching position and clenched a hand into a fist – ready to strike at any given moment.

The strike never came.

Instead of hitting Shion, Nezumi was forced to relax when a tray full of food was pushed onto his lap. "Chicken brother and some cherry cake." Shion waited until Nezumi got a grip on the tray before letting go and sitting beside the male. "Mother makes the best food so you'll definitely like it."

What was with this kid? Nezumi had never been more shocked in his life. He eyed the tray of food before looking at Shion in shock. This boy wasn't just naïve he was a bloody idiot. Nezumi smiled. An innocent idiot.

Shion frowned. Was Nezumi's silence a bad thing? "It is alright… right… I mean you might not like it but I hope you do and you don't need to worry about my mum bothering us because I told her I was starting another report so now she just thinks I'm a workaholic," Nezumi thought for a moment before he shook his head and chuckled softly. This boy was just too much, but he liked it. He liked Shion.

"It smells great."

Nezumi picked up a piece of cake and started eating. After the first bite he realised that Shion's compliment for his mother wasn't just a son saying his mother was great. The food was mouth-watering. Nezumi hadn't eaten like this in a while but even he knew what good food tasted like and this was good food and some more. Shion watched Nezumi eat from the corner of his eye, smiling to himself when he saw the look of bliss on Nezumi's face. Shion smiled forcefully at the sight before he thought back to the news report and sighed.

"Will you be able to escape?"

"I escaped once, didn't I?"

"But what about the chip inside your body?"

"It doesn't work." Nezumi swallowed and started on the second piece of cherry cake, regardless of the fact that it may have been for Shion. "It's still inside me but it's useless now; as useless as a toy, just like No. 6 I may add." Nezumi took the silence as shock. He dropped the cake and moved the tray to the side of him, staring Shion dead in the eyes and waiting for another question.

Shion couldn't tear his eyes from the hypnotic gaze and it was lie the eyes were forcing him to ask another question, "why were you arrested? And how did you escape?"

"I didn't escape. They were the ones who took me from the correctional facility and brought me here to no. 6." Nezumi looked outside, eyes focusing on the city hall. "They took me to the city hall; didn't you hear the moon crying,"

"That was your doing?"

Nezumi shrugged his shoulders. "You don't need to know that much," which translated as you don't need to get involved. Shion looked out of the window, eyes also on the city hall in wonderment. Nezumi's gaze went to Shion and he smirked at the innocent brunette. "I would have died wandering in your garden if I hadn't of heard your screams." Shion made a strangled noise and looked at Nezumi with shock. Nezumi only smirked wider, standing up and spreading his arms out as he screamed, "ARRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! ARRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

Shion's eyes widened and he jumped on his bed, hands trying to shut Nezumi up but the boy just laughed at the weak movements. Shion's hands tried to clamp over Nezumi's lips but Nezumi just laughed louder, hands slapping them away as he carried on screaming. Right now he didn't care if Shion's mum walked in on them. For once in his life he was having fun. The laughing didn't last for long because what Nezumi failed to realise was that because of the jumping his feet were starting to get tangled in the sheets.

Nezumi fell, Shion fell, it wasn't pretty.

Silence was welcome and noise was forgotten. All that could be heard were gentle pants from both men. Shion had his eyes squeezed shut for the impact, but the impact never came. Parting his eyes, Shion's breathing hitched in his throat as his eyes met hypnotic grey ones. Nezumi was shocked but luckily he landed with his back on the mattress so it didn't hurt. However what was unexpected was the fact that Shion was now lying on top of him; not moving and tense.

They stared at each other for a moment, sharing the same breath, before Shion couldn't stop himself from closing the gap. Lips met in a gentle and chaste kiss for a mere fraction of a second before Shion pulled away, snapped out of his trance, and looked at the equally shocked Nezumi with wide eyes. Nezumi didn't have time to respond but he sure as Hell had time for something.

It was unexpected, sure, but Nezumi knew one thing for sure; it definitely wasn't unwelcome.


	4. Remembering

**I keep forgetting the line breaks and when I put them in they don't appear. SOMEONE HELP ME**

* * *

When Shion had pulled away he jumped off the bed, bright red and had run out of his room, scared of the way Nezumi would have reacted. However, when Shion had returned, the rat had fled its nest, leaving nothing behind. That wasn't the end. Shion expected Nezumis' departure to be the end of the adventure but a few moments later his mother had come to his room, crying, with two men in suits following her.

That's when Shion had realised something; he'd gotten in too deep.

After an intense interrogation Shion and his mother had been stripped of everything; his home, his education and most importantly his dignity. It didn't just affect him. He'd just ruined his mothers' life.

Now, three years later, Shion had finally gotten settled into his new life. He and his mother had opened up a bakery and, sure, the area they were in wasn't as… glamorous as they used to live in built this was their home and Shion was proud of it. In just an hour they'd been stripped of everything but in two years they were finally at peace; they had done this on their own and Shion _had_ to be proud. However there was one thing that just wouldn't stop niggling at the back of his mind.

What happened to Nezumi?

* * *

Nezumi had no choice but to leave, touching his lips and running through the storm to an unknown destination. That's when he saw the men in suits and he had never ran so fast in his life. However, when he did stop running, to catch his breath, he realised something; he'd ruined the Shion's life – the one person in the entire room that had been so kind to him – that had helped him.

He felt like a selfish rat. No. He _was a selfish rat._

Now, three years later, he was busy running in sewers, squatting in alleyways and sleeping rough outside No. 6, whilst he and his rats searched for a certain brunette. He needed to see him again. He needed to feel those lips again. There was just one question that was left unanswered.

What happened to Shion?


	5. Escaping

Running turned to walking. Adrenaline turned to dust. Power turned to nothing.

Nezumi panted, gasping for breath. He'd been running for what seemed like hours, no, it probably had been hours. Nezumi stopped, leaning against a wall and closing his eyes. Nezumi exhaled deeply before forcing his tired eyes open. Was there really a point of carrying on? He wiped his bangs from his sweaty forehead, eyes on the water whilst he got lost in his thoughts. "Where can I look?" He muttered to himself, racking his brain for anywhere he hadn't searched already, anywhere his rats could look, anywhere wouldn't put him in danger of being caught. "Shit," Nezumi hissed, kicking the water and wishing he could punch out his feelings. He hadn't even spent a full day with Shion and yet he'd been spending three years searching for the fucking boy.

He clenched his hands into fists and chewed on his bottom lip, ignoring the fact that it had begun to bleed. He was about to carry on walking back to his home (if you could call it that) but suddenly his ears filled with sound, being more specific, the sound of shouting. He turned his head and eyes widened at the group of men coming his way.

"Shit."

His legs took only a moment to start moving, but when they did it only took seconds for the tunnel to be filled with the sound of bullets being fired and splashing of water. A gun shot went off and Nezumi ducked, growling before forcing his legs to move faster when the men started shouting insults.

Nezumi winced when he felt his ankle twinging, but when the voices increased he shook his head and used up what little energy he had left to runas memoried of a very familiar night flooded into his mind. Deja vu or what? Shaking his head, he banished the memories from his head, because he had to concentrate on running from the men. If he were to die, it wouldn't be by their dirty hands. Nezumi heard more feet behind him, splashing in the water and with every step he ran paranoia took over and he felt like they were getting closer to him and grabbing at his shirt. He was determined not to die. He leant forward and forced himself to run faster, nearly falling head first into the filthy water when his foot kicked against a brick. Swearing, he took the chance to turn around, to see how far the men were behind him, before he went back to running.

They were close and Nezumi knew no way of getting rid of them, so all he could do was run. He racked his mind, searching for an escape, because he had these sewers memorised like the back of his hand, but in a situation like this he was too anxious in his running to think of a plan to lose them. From the conclusion his running started to slow down, the splashes of water behind him getting louder, but that didn't bother him, because there was no escape. He could just see their faces; the smirk as they looked down at him, the taunting and teasing he would get from the rest of the inmates at the correctional facility for not being able to escape.

The rat shook his head and ignored the exhaustion and stinging in his legs. He had to do this and if not for him then surely he deserved to do it for Shion? He needed to live so he could do something to make up for the fact he had destroyed his life. He ran, eyes focused on the sewer in front of him and mind focusing on the innocent face of the brunette he was doing this all for. It was a cliché, one massive cliché, but if it helped him to survive he'd grasp onto anything.

He turned his head when the splashes of water behind him seemed to die down and frowned. When had they stopped following him? His legs started to slow down and soon enough he was at a standstill; tensed and waiting for men to jump out and start shooting at him with guns.

There was nothing.

His body started to relax and he didn't even flinch when something scurried up his arm, instead he hesitated before looking at the rat now nestled on his shoulder. "Where did they go?" He heard a splash and his body tensed up, hand on his hip and ready to grip his knife and stab the offender, because running wouldn't be an option when the walls of the sewer hid where the noise was coming from. He started to turn, looking for a shadow, anything, but all I got was a laugh. "Who's there?" Nezumi demanded, not surprised when he got no answer. What attacker would give away their position? There was another laugh and the splashing got louder. "I swear to God, if you don't show yourself I'll-"

"You'll what?"

He growled at the voice. "Dog keeper."

"Ten points to the rat!"

"Show your face."

There was a sigh and then the keeper was revealed. "You should be thanking me; I did stop those men." Inukashi frowned and crossed his arms over his chest before speaking, "why were they even chasing you?"

Nezumi shook his head and set off through the sewer. "I was a rat caught in a trap."

"Oh the irony," the keeper muttered. "You're still looking for him every day… all day."

"And you're still looking for a way out," I retorted, "plus I'm giving you money to look for him too, so stop running your mouth."

"Hey, how do you know I haven't found anything?"

Nezumi faltered, but didn't stop walking. However, the laugh Inukashi released made Nezumi grit his teeth, because it meant the keeper knew that he had Nezumi wrapped aorund his little finger.

"Have you found anything?"

"Maybe."

"A straight answer or you can die alone," he hissed, knowing it would strike a nerve because that was the one thing the keeper was afraid of. There was silence and he snorted before muttering, "you've found shit."

Inukashi glared at the back of the rat's head. He clenched his hands into fists and shouted, "get over it! He's gone; probably killed by the men chasing you!"

Nezumi clenched my hands into fists, ignoring the need to stop and punch the keeper in the face as he hissed, "keep looking."

"How can I look for someone that's not even there? And what's so special about him anyways?"

He had no answer. The kiss wasn't even deep or passionate, just a peck before Shion ran away, so it shouldn't mean that much, right? Wrong. He knew how big of a cliché it was, but because of that one small peck, the kindness and the safety even when the brunette had found out who he was he knew he had found the one person he could count on, the one person he could trust, and he'd be damned if he was going to let the brunette slip from his fingertips – even if what he was searching for was a ghost.

* * *

"What do you mean you lost him?" The man shouted, slamming the palm of his hand on the table as he carried on yelling at his subordinates, "how could that rat escape? He's got nowhere to fucking go you idiots!"

"Sir, we know we messed up, but he was too quick for us and then there was another one."

"Another one?"

"We don't know, boss," the other man piped up. "We were chasing him and he started to slow down when we felt something hit us in the necks and then we were on the floor."

"That's where they said they found you." The boss snorted. "What were you doing? Sleeping?"

"No, Sir, we-we couldn't move," they tried, but reasoning with their angry boss wouldn't do them much good.

"Couldn't be bothered to move you lazy bastards?"

"No, we were hit by something."

"Hit by something? What on Earth hit you?"

"We have no idea, because it came out of nowhere."

"Did you see anyone?" The man demanded, slamming another hand on the desk and causing the ornaments on the desk to rattle. "Did you see the person who threw fucking tribal darts at you."

The sarcasm was there and the subordinates knew they weren't going to be believed, bit what could they say? Their hands clenched into fists and, finally, one of the men spoke through gritted teeth, "Sir. We are _not_ lying to you."

"Tell me if you fucking saw anyone!" The man screamed, slamming his hand on the table a few more times to emphasise his anger.

Used to it, the men didn't flinch. "Nobody," they whispered in sync, knowing the taunting they were going to be in for.

The man snorted and shook his head before taunting, "A rat was too quick and slipped out of the trap." The men standing should have known that answering wouldn't serve them any good, but, of course, they didn't. Once they sighed the man in front of them shook his head with a chuckle, eyes downcast to this desk as he did so. The men shared a glance and, because their boss was still laughing, they forced a smile on their lips and forced themselves to laugh half-heartedly. Within a second their boss was screaming, "did I say you could fucking laugh!"

Silence.

The man looked up and growled, "get your asses out of my office, find the rat, and then bring him to me." They looked ready to speak, but the man was quick to put his hand up. "If you bring nothing back to me then that will be the last thing you do."

* * *

" _Help… me…"_

" _I-I-I…" Shion stuttered, frozen in terror as he watched the body in front of me. It was slowly disintegrating, as though it had been set on fire and its' ashes were being blown away by the wind._

" _Please… get… get someone."_

 _Shion couldn't… he couldn't... move._

" _I'm begging you."_

 _Shion clenched his hands into fists – wanting to do something – but his entire body was refusing to move, like he was stuck in mud. One blink an arm was gone, two blinks a foot was gone, three blinks and his fingers were gone. Shion was going to throw up. His head was spinning, body was trembling and his vision was blurring. It took only a second before Shion's knees buckled under him and he was on the ground paralysed with fear._

 _Bzzzzz. Bzzzzz. Bzzzzz_

 _Was that buzzing?_

 _I closed my eyes, hearing it getting louder and louder. It was so close, but what was it… wha-_

"STOP!" Shion screamed, gasping for air. "Stop…" He looked around and sighed, relaxing when the familiar room filled him with comfort. "I fell asleep at work. I'm at work and I'm fine. Nothing's going to get me," Shion repeated like a mantra, rubbing his tired eyes before he said it one final time, looking over at the clock and sighing; he still had a few more hours of work left to do. He wiped his face and forced himself off the couch, walking into the bathroom and turning on the cold tap – too scared to look into the mirror. After splashing water on his face he picked up and towel and wiped his face down, trying to ignore how shaky they were, before he set the towel down and started to walk back to the base room. He had to walk down slowly, because of his shaking body, but he had to push forward if he wanted to keep his job.

Once he was at the door to the base room he took a moment to force a smile on his face, frowning at the noise, or rather, the lack of it. It was too quiet. His smile dropped from his face, because if there was no music it meant there was nobody he had to be fake to. Usually, his work mate was blasting music or talking on the phone so it was strange to say the least. Shion reached out and pushed the handle down, pushing the door open and taking in his partner, who was fast asleep on his chair. He sighed, happy that he didn't have to explain his unnatural behaviour, before he eyed a chair near the door and collapsed into it – wanting nothing more than go to bed but he still had to work to do. He looked over at his co-worker. What had he been doing? Shion had not once seen him move out of his chair, maybe it was because Shion was too eager to please his bosses to get a better placement. Who wants to work as a 'gardener' for the rest of his life? The brunette sighed and closed his eyes, resting his chin on his balled up fists as he muttered, "this job is going to kill me." He expected a snort, a response, anything from his partner but all he received was silence.

Had he done something to offend the other male? Shion opened his eyes and narrowed his eyes in the direction of the older male, watching his movements. Wait… was his chest even moving? Shion's eyes widened and he quickly stood up, taking hesitant steps over to his partner in the hopes he'd think Shion was going crazy and speak or warn the brunette off.

He got nothing.

He came to a stop in front of the older male and slowly reached out, gulping as he pushed his partners' arm from under his chin, yelping and jumping back when his head just fell forward.

Was he actually dead?

Shion shook his head. "Please, please, please," he muttered to whatever God was listening. He ran over to the phone, pressing in three digits and putting the phone to his ear. "Answer, someone answer, come on, it's an actual emergency," he begged, tears welling up when the phone just carried on ringing. He looked back at his partner and gasped at the now crumpled body on the floor. Dropping the phone, he heard someone answering but it was either answer the phone or see if there was anything he could do to save his partner.

He chose the latter.

He manipulated the mans' body until he was on his side, the best Shion could do because what did he know about first aid? Leaning forward he put an ear to the mans' lips, lips twitching into almost a smile when he heard a faint exhale and inhale of breath. Wait, if he was breathing why wasn't he waking up? Shion shook the males' body, but he wasn't waking up? Putting a finger to his wrist Shion frowned; his heartbeat wasn't irregular, wasn't slow, wasn't anything. It sounded healthy.

"What the…" Shion trailed off. Maybe he was a deep sleeper and Shion was worrying over nothing? Shion nodded but was quick to drop the hand he was holding and stand up to run over to the phone. If only he had stayed, maybe then he would have seen the black dot expanding on his friends' neck? Shion put the phone to his ear and shouted into it, "hello! Hello! Are you still-"

Shion dropped the phone when his eyes landed on the phones' wire. It was cut.

"But I was just... it was rining," Shion spluttered, face paling in shock.

He dropped the phone and looked around, hands clenching into fists because he had nothing to defend himself with, nothing to… Shion gasped. Where was his partner? He took a few steps back until he felt the wall with shaky hands. At least with his back to the wall he wouldn't have anyone sneaking up behind him. Eyes were narrowed and he looked around the room. What the Hell was happening?

Making an escape was an option, but if he ran he was afraid of whatever it was that took his friend taking him. Damn, why was he such a coward?

Eyes were quickly on a shadow, watching it with all of his concentration because right now he was scared of anything and everything that moved. He hesitantly started moving, thinking the best way to survive would be to walk around to the exit with a back to the wall – eyes still on the shadow because you could never be too certain. If he got to through the door there was only one more before he was out in the open and he could get help. With each step he grew more confident and soon enough he was at the exit, hands grasping for the scanner and after he put his finger to it he was out of the room and locking it behind him.

His heart was pounding, palms sweaty and breathing erratic. He put a hand over his heart and sighed deeply, closing his eyes as a smile graced his lips. He was out of the room but he still needed to call someone because everything that happened would be caught on camera – he was positive.

"Okay, okay, okay," he mumbled to himself whilst opening up his eyes. "I need to call a-" Shion gasped, cutting himself off and wishing he'd just waited it out with the damn dead body when he saw what he'd come out to.

Right in front of him – blocking all means of escape was a nest. A nest of what Shion didn't know, but it was a nest. Hesitantly, trying not to make himself known, Shion put his thumb back on the scanner, trying to stay calm when the door didn't open. Oh yeah, now was the perfect time for the system to decide to shut down. Shion's breathing quickened and he clenched his hands into fists – was this the day he was going to die? No. It was a nest. It could be rats, yes, it was rats. Shion had to hold in a chuckle, because even though the situation needed anything but a laugh he couldn't help it. The first thing he thought of was a rat. Ironic much.

This day was getting too much, Shion was seriously wishing he had stayed in bed.

Shion shook his head. "Concentrate," he hissed to himself. Okay he had to think. Was there another way out? There looked like there was nothing in the nest so maybe Shion could shout for help? What else could he do? "Help," Shion spoke, clearing his throat and shaking his head forcing him to shout as he closed his eyes. "Help, somebody help me."

Nothing. What a surprise. However, one good thing was that nothing had jumped onto him and latched onto his throat – there was always a positive!

Shion growled and opened his eyes. What was he-

The brunettes' thoughts were instantly cut off when he felt a needle against his skin, sinking into it and making it feel like his skin was being torn apart. He wanted to look down at what was doing but movement made bile rise up his throat, so for all he knew it could be a person or an animal. Suddenly, a burning sensation filled his neck and he could seriously feel it all over his body. Was something being injected? This he wasn't ready for and his body moved by himself. A hand slapped away whatever was on his neck, legs buckling underneath him, like he couldn't control his actions, and forcing him to the ground. He hit his head and the last thing he saw when he fell unconscious was a rat.

* * *

Nezumi sighed, taking one final glance behind him, before setting his sights back to the streets in front of him. The dog keeper had always been so annoying and surprising so it wasn't like he was surprised when he had jumped out of nowhere, but it still set him on edge – knowing the keeper could jump out at any given moment and know exactly what he was doing and where he was going set me on edge. He resisted the urge to snort. He did the same thing every day, so was it really a surprise?

Nezumi shook his head. After endless tunnels of taunting from the keeper he'd finally gone when they met light, so he should be happy. Wrong. His expression was stern and serious, body language tense and even the way he walked shone anger. Today had been a waste of time for Nezumi and the taunting from the dog keeper had set him on edge. He really was searching for the impossible.

* * *

"And y _ou're sure this is him?"_

"H _e was found with his rat almost ten years ago."_

What… Shion started to blink, eyes too heavy to open fully, but the voices. There were voices and they were talking about him. Weren't they? It had to be him. Wait. His rat? Who was his rat?

" _It could be anyone. He has fucking white hair."_

White hair. Shion frowned, wanting to move, to ask what was happening, because Shion knew nobody with white hair.

" _It was the experiment Sir. A nest appeared inside the bases at one of the parks."_

" _A nest… you let it build a fucking nestescape?"_

" _Not it Sir, we didn't-"_

 _*Slap*_

Shion held his breath. Whoever was talking above him was angry and right now Shion knew that playing dead was a really good idea.

" _If it's not it, then what is it? What the fuck is this? Just do as I've asked you and don't mess up, because I warned you last time that messing up will be the death of you."_

Shion resisted to urge to hiss when something pricked against his skin. He felt his body quickly turning into weights and soon enough the voices were gone and left as a distant memory.

* * *

Nezumi groaned and collapsed on his bed. Today had been a long day of searching (and running) but, still, he had found nothing. It was like Shion had disappeared into thin air. Nezumi snorted at the thought. "More like No. 6 made him disappear," he muttered to himself with a small laugh, because laughing could ease the feeling of guilt from all those years ago.

Nezumi shook his head. Enough of that. He had to focus on the positive of escaping the clutches of the correctional facility and being able to see the light of another day to carry on his search.

He pushed himself into a sitting position, about to grab a book (because what else was he supposed to do?) when someone knocked on the door. Nezumi frowned. He never had guests. Hesitantly, he got up to his feet and walked over to the door. Reaching out, Nezumi put his hand to the handle and waited a moment before he sighed and thought he was being paranoid so he opened the door. As soon as the door opened something, or rather, someone fell to the floor and Nezumi gasped. He looked up, lips still parted as he stared up at the brunette in front of him.

"Found him."

* * *

 **Exams are a bitch. D in creative writing AGAIN. I hate my life. Like come on you were the one who told me NEVER to write newspaper articles, because I'm basically SHIT at it, so what other question was I supposed to answer? Rant, rant, rant. I hate it and I hate the stupid freaking exam. Okay, short chapter so I apologise but I really don't have 'the drive' to write, because I know when I go to college tomorrow my tutor will tell me how shit my work was. I seriously hate everything right now and I feel like shit from the 'constructive criticism' my tutor gives me. I'm trying, like, what else can I bloody do? I will update next month at the latest, I swear.**

 _ **Rant over, sorry**_


	6. Locked

_**Thoughts**_ and **ta** **lking on phone  
**

* * *

 _Shion..._

 _Hello..._

 _Shion... Shion… Shion..._

 _Wake up Shion... wake up Shion..._

 _Can't you hear me Shion? Wake up..._

 _Come on sleepy head..._

Shion gasped, eyes opening wide and body jumping until he was sitting upright. He put a hand to his chest, gasping for breath, before spreading his hand on his shirt and feeling his heart beat - afraid that at any given moment it would stop. He felt sweat dripping down his forehead and he quickly wiped it away before he started to open and close his dry mouth. He closed his eyes and fell back onto the bed, setting his other hand arm over his sweaty forehead before he exhaled deeply and whispered to himself, "it was just a dream, it was just a dream." He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. "It was… it _is_ a dream." He pushed himself up and looked around the room. "It's a dream, I'm still asleep." He brought his hands up to his face and looked at his wrists.

Chains.

"Why is there…?" He moved about, eyes widening when he felt something cold pushing against his ankles. He threw the covers from his body and looked at his ankles – more chains. He looked around the room, frowning and swallowing a lump in his throat when he realised that he wasn't in his bedroom – he was in a cell.

"Where…?"

"You look lost."

Shion looked through the metal bars, squinting when all he could see was darkness. "Who's there?" There was a pause before Shion flinched at the sound of laughter. The brunette clenched his hands into fists, forcing himself to stop shaking from the fear of the unknown because if he showed fear then his attacker would have already won. "Tell me who you are or I'll… I'll…"

"You'll what?" Shion grit his teeth – he couldn't threaten anyone in a position like this. "Empty threats will get you nowhere and I don't even think you're in the position to be making threats no matter how empty they are."

"Why are doing this to me?"

The man laughed as though Shion had told a joke. "You really are funny."

"I didn't make a joke," Shion hissed, knowing that he could be angering the man more, but even in a situation like this he wasn't ready to back down.

"Feisty."

"Bite me."

For a moment Shion thought he'd said the wrong thing, but in a moment there was a sigh and then the man spoke, "oh I do like it when they've got fight left in them." Shion tensed up. "It makes me all the more eager to beat it out of them." Shion's heart pounded faster and he shook his head, eyes glistening with tears. "But din't worry, it's not about you – you're not the one I want."

"Then who do you want?"

"Now, now, now, if I give that away where's the fun?"

"What do you mean fun?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

"What are you talking about? I don't know anybody important – I don't know anyone." He waited for the attacker to say anything, anything at all, but it was all in vain because his response was silence. "Please, just tell me who you want."

Silence again.

Shion growled, swinging his legs over the bed and clenching his hands around the sheets. He could hear gentle breathing behind the metal bars, which meant the man was still watching him like an animal would watch its prey. His eyes filled with tears of frustration and when one fell he was quick to wipe it away with his arm – he wouldn't let the man see his tears. "It's not real; this is a dream."

"You mean a nightmare?"

Shion flinched. The man was toying with him.

He closed his eyes, trying to remember something between work and this cell he was trapped in, but he was drawing only a blank. The last thing he could remember is a nest. A nest of what he doesn't know, because all he could see is a nest full of darkness. "I know you're still there."

Silence.

"I know you're toying with me, but you're not going to get to me – I won't let you win."

"Win what?"

"This game you're playing!" Shion shouted, "I don't know what you want from me, but whatever it is you're not getting – I don't care how long I'll be staying here, because you're-you're not going to win."

There was silence before Shion heard a soft chuckle. "You really are funny Shion." The man laughed as he turned around, this time leaving, but making sure he was quiet so Shion wouldn't know if he was there or if he was actually gone. He walked out of the cells and tucked his hands into his pockets, smirk on his lips as he walked up a metal staircase, careful not to slip on the wet, metal plates. He took a hand from his pocket, combing through his bangs as he pushed the doors open and walked out of the dark and into the light.

It took all of one step out of the cells before his secretary rushed out to him and started speaking, "Sir, there are two guards in your office downstairs awaiting orders." The man sighed and nodded, waving the woman away with a flick of his wrist before he headed for his office. He made sure his tie was in place, brushed off the dirt from his pants and brushed the stray hairs away from his face before he got to his office, put his hand to the wood and pushed it open.

The two guards immediately turned around, both saluting once they realised it was their boss. The man rolled his eyes and waved the salutes off, not saying anything until he was behind his desk, still standing. "What do you both want?"

"Sir, you told us to come to this office once we sorted out… the problem."

The man snorted. "The problem wouldn't have even been there had it not of been for you. I told you to make sure the nests were somewhere discreet and were they? No. They were at a park – in a fucking back room of an office."

"But we caught the boy and now we have the bait."

"You caught him? He's working for the city under his real name, so don't you dare say you caught him, because you did shit. We could have taken him away, quietly I might add, without a problem."

"But Sir-"

"The man put his hand up and stopped the guard in his tracks. "I was waiting for the right moment, so if everything goes to shit it will be you two I'll be blaming."

"But Sir; we got you the boy without a causing a scene."

"What do you want? A fucking medal?" Luckily the guards had learnt when to keep their mouths shut. The man tsked and fell back onto his chair. "Whatever. Just make sure you don't lose him, because this may be our only chance to catch that rat once and for all, got it?"

"Sir, yes Sir!"

The man rolled his eyes. "Now, get your asses to that boy and move him through the sewers."

"But you just said not to lose him."

"Did I say lose him? No. I said take him through the sewers."

"But we only just got him here."

The man rolled his eyes, looking down for a moment as he mumbled, "Lord give me strength." He looked up and narrowed his eyes at the guards. "Do I pay you for your opinion or do I pay you to shut your mouth and do as I say?" One of the guards went to speak, but the other quickly elbowed him, the man looking at them both before he nodded. "At least one of you has common sense. Now. I want you to get the boy and take him through the sewers."

"To where, Sir?"

"Just go through the sewers until I say stop." The man let out a chuckle as he murmured, "like the dogs you are."

"But Sir-"

"Did I ask for your fucking opinion?" The man shouted, tossing a glass on his desk to the wall, barely missing the guards, and then slamming his other hand on the desk. "Move him through the sewers until I contact you." The men clenched their hands into fists. They couldn't say no unless they wanted to get beaten to a bloody pulp. The man took the silence as a good thing and he hesitantly sat down, picking up a pen and going back to his work as he spoke, "I take it you have nothing further to say, so get out of here before I have you both replaced."

The men shared a look before they turned around and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind them softly before one of them whispered, "we're going to lose him."

* * *

Shion wiped at his eyes, knowing they must be red and puffy, but in a situation like this his looks were the last of his thoughts. He let his eyes scan the cell, looking for anything that might help him think of something to get out, but all he could think of was that this was how he was going to die.

 _What do they want with me?_

Shion groaned and fell back, gasping and shooting upright when the cells were suddenly filled with voices and Shion wasn't sure if more men had turned up or they had always been there – the darkness was confusing. He gritted his teeth and watched as two guards came to his cell, looking at him as though he were the devil and then bringing out a set of keys.

Shion jumped from his bed, turning to face the men with clenched hands and a tensed form – knowing he couldn't do anything, but he wasn't going down without a fight. "What are you doing?" The guards didn't say anything and Shion wasn't sure if he liked the silence or wanted them to shout abuse at him.

The metal bars started to move and soon enough the guards were inside the cell. One stayed at the door whilst the other grabbed Shion's wrist, ignored the cries of pain as he unlocked the chains and then went to the ones at his feet. Shion's eyes widened. He knew he had no way of running away, but it didn't stop him from thinking about it. "What are you doing?" He got nothing – not even an insult or command to shut up. The chains on his ankles were undone and he took a step back, hands trying to find the wall behind him for something to help to settle his nerves. "What are you doing?"

The guard who undid his chains rolled his eyes and took a step forward, lifting an arm up as he murmured, "the boss said nothing about you being unconscious."

"What-"

Before Shion could finish his sentence a fist landed on his jaw and when he was on the floor and kick landed on the side of his head. He groaned, eyes blurry and the voices above him fuzzy before he felt something prick his skin and he let out a hiss of pain.

Shion started to blink, eyes starting to get heavy until he couldn't open them, but the voices were still there. He felt his body quickly turning into weights and soon enough the voices were gone and left as a distant memory as he allowed the darkness to consume him.

* * *

Inukashi sighed.

He was currently sat on one of the ledges in the sewers, throwing stones into the murky water, because it usually took only a few minutes of teasing before he got bored of the rat's company. He was like that all the time now; any time that brunette was brought up he would turn serious. Since Nezumi came back home he had distanced himself away from Inukashi, sending him away unless he was asking for help in his search. However, as much as they fought and acted like they hated each other they both had something in common; the fear of being alone. Funny really. Inukashi was helping the rat, knowing full well that if the brunette is found Nezumi would leave him alone. Inukashi frowned at his reflection in the water, before the thought of how much of a coward Nezumi thought him to be ran through his mind.

"That rat," Inukashi hissed under his breath, kicking a stone into the sewer water before Inukashi tsked, "thinks he knows everything, thinks he doesn't need me." Inukashi threw another rock in the murky water, "he needs me. Who was there when that brunette left? Me. Who was fucking there when he came to the facility? Me. It's always been me. It's always been fucking me!" Inukashi screeched, throwing another rock into the water and watching as the water rippled, before Inukashi frowned at how the water didn't stop rippling.

It was then that Inukashi started to hear voices. Inukashi was quick to push myself back until Inukashi was positive Inukashi was hidden in the shadows and that's when Inukashi saw him.

It was the brunette Nezumi was craving for. Inukashi didn't know what to do. Inukashi narrowed his eyes at the brunette.

 _He's the source of my problems. If he's found I'll have nobody left, but if I leave him here that damned rat won't ever change. Maybe if I tell that rat I saw his throat get slipped he'd forget about him – at least then there would be closure._

Inukashi smirked.

 _Serves the rat right._

It was only a thought.

Inukashi couldn't really do that, because, unlike Nezumi, he wanted to keep what was left of his sanity.

Inukashi didn't want to make himself known, because making himself known would mean Inukashi would get captured, tortured and then murdered. Inukashi shivered at the thought. Even Inukashi could admit he was a coward. However, he may be a coward, but Inukashi had to find a way to save the brunette. "If I save him Nezumi will go back to his normal self," Inukashi muttered to himself, clenching his hands into fists and forcing himself to stay frozen before he moved his lips and whistled: he whistled for his dogs.

He watched with a smirk as the men froze, glancing at each other before they had next to no time to react.

Inukashi's dogs were surrounding the men in a moment, growling baring their teeth; ready to attack if they were given their command. The guards shared a phrase, the one not holding Shion hesitantly putting his hand to his belt, gripping his gun before his phone starting to ring. Inukashi frowned, ready to call the attack, but when he saw the guards sharing a look he knew something was wrong. Something was going to happen.

The guard moved his hand from the gun to his pocket and pulled out the phone, putting it to his ear as he cleared his throat and spoke, "Sir, we may have-"

" **Put the boy on the ledge nearest to you."**

"But Sir, they're only dogs, we can kill them."

Inukashi gritted his teeth, but didn't do anything because from the looks of the conversation he was going to get the boy without the need of killing anyone.

 **"Put. The boy. On. The ledge."**

The guard was hesitant and he clenched his hand into a fist before he forced himself to nod. "Roger." He ended the call and put his phone back in his pocket, turning to his partner as he hissed through gritted teeth, "put the boy on the ledge." The guard slowly nodded and Inukashi tensed up before relaxing when realisation struck him.

They were bait.

They were bait for a rat.

Inukashi shook his head, trying to register what was happening before all he could do was watch the men toss Shion over to the ledge and then walk off, mumbling insults under their breath as they did so.

The keeper took a step forward before he hesitated, shaking his head and clenching his hands into fists as he took forceful steps forward – if this was a trap then he had his dogs to save him. Inukashi snorted. _Maybe if I die the rat will give me a second glance_. He got to the boy on the ledge and pushed him so he was laying on his back, taking in his features before he spoke, "what's the attraction?"

He moved Shion's bangs away from his closed his eyes, watching his features as though he were expecting the male to wake up before he shook his head and clicked his fingers. He bent down and petted the brown dog now at his feet, "follow me," he whispered before standing up and gesturing to Shion. No matter how important the boy was he wasn't prepared to traipse through the sewers with someone almost twice his size. As he walked he made sure the dogs were following with Shion and when they were he looked forward and put his hands in his pockets.

"That rat better be fucking thankful."

* * *

"Where did you find him?" Nezumi chose his words carefully, taking a step back in shock when the dog keeper started to laugh. "What the hell happened to him?"

The keeper shrugged his shoulders. "Men were dragging him through the sewers. If you'd have waited just a few more seconds you could have been his hero."

Nezumi gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists. If Inukashi hadn't have been there, then those measly few seconds might have been his last hope of finding Shion. He looked up at the dog keeper, eyes scanning his face for anything before he shook his head and looked back at Shion. "Thank you."

Inukashi's eyes widened – not expecting such words to ever leave the rat's mouth. "Why are you…?" The keeper shook his head. It was obvious why the rat was acting this way and the keeper really didn't want to be there when the brunette woke up, because he knew how fast Nezumi would disregard him. "I'll be leaving now."

Nezumi didn't even look up. He was too consumed with the boy who he'd been looking for, for God knows how long, in front of him. It took the keeper no time whilst it had taken Nezumi years, but he knew that the only thing that mattered was the brunette.

He was here and he was alive.

Nezumi fell to his knees, hand in Shion's hair as he allowed a smile to grace his lips – it was real – Shion was real. He put his hands underneath Shion's armpits as he pulled the boy against his chest, waiting for the door to close before he put his arm under Shion's legs and lifted the boy up. He took getting to the bed slowly because he didn't want to let Shion go. After laying the boy on his bed he fell to his knees and set his hand atop of Shion's head, stroking through the locks gently as he pressed his forehead to Shion's and whispered, "I'm never letting go again."

* * *

"But Sir-"

*slap*

"I told you both to shut your mouths."

"We did what you told us to."

"With complaints and I shall not have my guards questioning me; I pay you to protect me and do as I say."

"But Sir-"

"Shut up," the other guard hissed.

The man smirked. "I like you." He eyed the guard before he turned around and nodded to the ones behind him. "Release him and leave the other one until I say otherwise." The man snorted as he walked away. "Let's see if you stop answering back after this."

* * *

 **I bet you're wondering what the Hell's happening, don't worry, because I'm wondering the same thing!**


	7. Awake

Nezumi stroked back Shion's bangs from his sweaty forehead, sighing at the heat still resonating from his forehead. He shouldn't be this hot. Still. It'd been three days since the dog keeper had found Shion and the boy hadn't stirred at all, which couldn't be a good thing. He tried to get the boy to drink water, but it was as if the boy's body had shut down, so it just created a whole other mess he had to clean up. The keeper had been around a couple of times, but Nezumi knew it wasn't to check up on the boy, it was obvious that Inukashi would have left the boy to die if he could get away with lying to Nezumi. That was what scared the rat – if the keeper had decided against saving the boy Nezumi would have missed him by minutes and that may have been the last time their paths crossed. Nezumi shivered at the thought. He stood up from the bed, checking on the sleeping Shion a final time before he walked to the door. As he pressed down on the handle he turned his head and located one of his rats. "Stay," he muttered, not knowing why he said it, because he knew the rat would stay, but he felt like he needed reassurance that Shion wouldn't wake up alone, or rather, he wouldn't get scared and leave. He couldn't lose the boy again. He opened the door and left the room, locking it and checking twice that it was locked before he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked down the dimly lit alley. He needed to talk with the only other person he knew that knew of Shion. Rikiga.

* * *

 _Wake up..._

 _Shion..._

 _Shion..._

 _Wake up..._

 _You can't stay asleep forever..._

 _Shion..._

 _You'll wake up soon..._

 _I know you will..._

 _You need to wake up..._

 _Shion..._

 _Shion..._

 _WAKE UP!_

* * *

Inukashi kicked at the dirt, a firm frown on his face as he stared at the mud now present on his shoes. Shaking his head, he whistled and soon enough there was a dog walking over to him and in seconds the dog had his head on the keeper's lap. Curling his fingers through the hair of his dogs helped the keeper to relax. He thought back to a few days ago. The people Shion was with seemed serious, the suits were the evidence, and the keeper knew it wasn't just a coincidence that he saw the boy; someone was playing a game with Shion and the keeper knew that it involved Nezumi. That's when the dilemmas began; help the rat meant he could be put in a dangerous situation, but not helping the rat meant having to survive alone. If only Shion could have a target on his back, because that way, the keeper could at least get some money out of his existence. Inukashi snorted. If only. He was about to get up and leave when he made out a figure a few metres away from him – a very familiar figure, or rather, a very familiar rat. He grit his teeth and glared at the figure before shouting, "what are you doing here? Finally given up on the boy?"

Nezumi growled when he neared the keeper. "I need you to tell me where someone is."

"Why would I help you?"

"Because you saved that boy." Nezumi stated with a shrug of his shoulders. No point getting angry; he could save that for the person he actually wanted to talk with. "You may hate him, for whatever reason, but you saved him, so that right there shows me you'll do what I say." Inukashi glared at the rat. "That and you might have to die alone."

"Tell me who you fucking want?"

"Rikiga. He moves around a lot and I just want to know if he's still where he is."

"Him…" The keeper trailed off, frowning as his body language relaxed. "You want that pimp?"

"Yes, now tell me if he's moved or not."

"Tell me why then!"

"Do you care?" His response was silence. "There you go, you don't, now tell me where he is."

"I'll show you."

* * *

 _Shion..._

 _You're alone now..._

 _I'm awake and I know you're alone..._

 _So why aren't you awake?_

 _I'm bored..._

 _Wake up..._

 _SHION..._

 _WAKE UP!_

…

…

Good morning

* * *

"I know why you're so eager to see him."

Nezumi just rolled his eyes, shoving his hands into his pockets as he hunched in on himself. He knew exactly where he was going now, even if Inukashi wouldn't tell him if he had or hadn't moved, but the keeper wasn't going to take the hint, so there was no bother telling him to leave him alone. "Go on, do tell."

Inukashi turned his head, glaring at the rat, before his eyes went back to the street in front of him, if you could even call them that, and he spoke, "you think you're the only one who knows shit, but I've got dogs everywhere, listening in on everything, just as you have rats doing the same." There was a pause and the keeper snorted. "He knows the boy's mother, that's why you want him, isn't it?"

"He wouldn't want her to worry."

"You know shit!" Inukashi shouted, turning around and stopping in his tracks as he pointed an accusing finger at the rat, "one night, one stupid night and you think you _own_ him."

Nezumi tsked, walking straight passed the keeper and then waving him off. "I think I know where to go, so why don't you go back and wash your dogs?"

"Fuck you!"

The rat spared a glance behind him, glaring at the back of the keeper, and then looking ahead. His eyes scanned the signs and when he saw one creaking and blowing in the wind he knew he was there. The girls outside proved it. He turned a corner into the shop and started walking up a set of steps. He had to resist the urge to roll his eyes as he nearly walked into a couple of half-dressed girls. He drew his lips into a thin line as he walked passed them with hands clenched into fists. God he hated visiting the damn pimp. He got to the top of the steps and was about to knock on the door, but with a sigh he just pushed the door open with his eyes closed, "if you've got a girl in there I'd appreciate it if she'd leave."

"Open your eyes."

The rat opened them and then shut the door behind him with a small sigh. Good. The quicker he could leave the better. "I won't be here for long."

The pimp tutted, gesturing to the room with wide arms and allowing a large smile to curl across his lips. "Stay, stay, I still have a place for you here and I will until your looks change." The sentence ended with a wink, but Nezumi ignored the comments and actions.

"Just shut up and listen," Nezumi hissed, not even moving from the door, because he wanted to get out as soon as he could.

"The floor's yours."

"Karan."

The pimp faltered for a moment, smile dropping as he whispered, "what has she got to do with anything?" A sore spot. The rat just had to know his sore spot.

"I need you to get a message to her. I know for a fact you still have contact with her, even if it's one sided, so I need you to tell her something."

"Tell her what?"

"That I have her son."

* * *

Shion woke up in a cold sweat. He gasped, as though he hadn't been breathing since he fell unconscious, and then sat upright, hand on his chest to make sure it was still pounding – he needed to feel it so he knew that he was alive. He breathed deeply, trying to regain sense of everything around him, before he ran a shaky hand through his hair and then dropped it to his lap. His eyes widened. His hair... clumps of brown hair lay on his lap and in between his fingers and when Shion ran through his hair with his other hand more fell out. He threw the covers back and sat on the edge of the bed, entire body shaking and legs turning into jelly as he stood. He was on the floor in an instant, but he was so full of fear that he couldn't stop there. He had to regain sense of the situation. He crawled on his hands and knees, noticing how unfamiliar his surroundings were. He wasn't at home, he wasn't at work and he wasn't in that cell. Where was he? He rubbed his eyes and looked up, glancing around the dimly lit room before his eyes landed on a mirror, no, his eyes landed on his reflection. His hair was white, his eyes were crimson, his face and neck were covered in red burn lines, his lips parted and tears filled his eyes. That's when he screamed.

* * *

"You have her son? You have Shion?"

Nezumi smirked. "I thought you would have known about him."

"Don't change the subject. Where did you find him? Did you take him from-"?

"I didn't," Nezumi quickly interrupted the rant, because he just wanted to give the pimp the message and then be on his way. Rikiga frowned, standing up and making his way to the rat. Nezumi tensed up, not knowing what he was going to do, before the pimp walked around him and went inside a cabinet. Nezumi looked at the flustered man searching through the drawer with a frown. "What are you doing?" The pimp waved him off before he pulled out a file, opened up, flipped through the pages, took one from the file and then thrusted it against Nezumi's chest. "What is that?" Nezumi asked, looking down at the paper as he did so.

"The reason why I'm so surprised you have him," Rikiga muttered. The rat spared a glance at the pimp, taking in his nervous and flustered state and becoming even more worried about the situation he was in with Shion, because never had he seen Rikiga act so scared – he was always so fucking enthusiastic. Nezumi looked down at the paper and scanned over the words, but the only words that jumped out to him were:

 _SHION. TEST SUCCESS. TRACKER INSIDE._

His head snapped up and he looked at Rikiga with accusing eyes. Rikiga shrugged his shoulders as if to say _I don't know._ "I got word from the city that Shion disappeared, but he didn't disappear, he was taken by the people who own the correctional facility. Someone told me he found something connected to them and they, obviously, didn't want him to talk, so they took him. They wouldn't give him up easily, because Shion is dirt compared to the other people in the city, so what I don't understand is why you now have him."

"Inukashi found him being dragged through the sewers and when he was about to attack the men dragging him they got a call and just… left him."

"So it's a set up."

Nezumi looked back down at the paper. "Tracker inside? What does it mean by tracker inside?"

"They're obviously tracking him."

"Why him? What's so… special…" the rat trailed off when he felt something crawling up his arm and when he looked down he saw one of his rats, the one he left behind to look after Shion, which meant one thing; Shion was awake.

"Nezumi, Nezumi, do you know what this means?"

"It means I have to go."

The pimp's eyes widened. Now that was seriously unexpected. What was the rat thinking? "You have to…? What are you talking about?"

"I'll come back tomorrow." Nezumi practically threw the paper at Rikiga before he turned and swung the door open, sprinting to the set of stairs and flying down them, ignoring the shouts he received as he pushed past the people standing on the steps. He got outside and stopped, looking around, trying to find the shortest way home, before his rat jumped from his shoulder and lead the way. It took all of one second for Nezumi to follow the rat, eyes solely on the creature as he chased after it, which meant he bumped into everyone and ran into everything, not that he cared. Right now Shion was the only thing on his mind. Luckily, his home was close to where the pimp lived so by the time he got to the door not much time had passed. He breathed a small sigh, a shaky hand pulling out a key before he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

His first thought was where's Shion?

The bed was empty and as he shut the door behind him to get a clearer view he saw that the room was empty. Was he wrong? Had Shion woken up and ran? No. The door was locked. Had someone taken Shion? No. _The door was locked_. Had Inukashi made way on one of his threats? No. _The door. Was. Locked._

"Shi-Sion," he faltered, taking a few hesitant steps deeper into the room. That's when he saw a bundle of blankets behind the bed. "Shion, is that… you?" He wanted the boy to call his name, but, obviously, he didn't remember him. They were strangers. "Shion, it's me, Nezumi. Don't you remember me…? From the-"

"Storm."

Nezumi's breathing hitched in his throat. He remembered.

The rat took hesitant steps towards the bed, heart pounding and hands turning clammy, before he was crawling across it on all fours and then sitting on the floor beside the hidden Shion. He grabbed one of the covers, pulling on it gently, before Shion tensed up and pulled them tighter against him.

"Shion…"

"Don't, just leave me."

He wouldn't – not again. "Let me see your face."

"I'm not the same."

Nezumi frowned. Sure the boy was tired and looked a bit had it, but that was it and now wasn't the time for insecurities over appearances. "What do you mean? You've got a fever and you look sick, but you're the same as-"

Nezumi shut up as soon as Shion pulled the covers down to reveal his 'new' look. His cheeks were stricken with tears and eyes swollen, but what bothered Nezumi the most was how fast it took for Shion to change. He had been gone for not that long and already the boy was unrecognisable. His hair colour had changed, but that wasn't what scared Nezumi, no, what scared him the most was the fact that his eyes had changed colour. Was that even possible? The first thought that came to Nezumi's mind was that it was true; Shion really was used as a lab rat.

"I'm not the same," Shion whispered before he hid himself back under the covers.

"Only your appearance has changed." He pulled the blankets away from Shion's face, hand going to cup his cheek as he murmured, "nothing's changed." He wiped away a tear track and then took a chance. It could end in disaster, but right now he needed to know if what he felt as a child wasn't a fluke. He leaned in until their lips were a breath a part and he watch Shion's eyes widen at the action. Their lips met and Nezumi kept his eyes open, watching the boy's eyes slowly close, until he let his own eyes shut and he sighed deeply into the kiss. Acceptance. They pulled away and the rat whispered, "do you feel the same way as I do?"

Shion didn't know what to think. All he knew was that he was back with the man he'd been searching for, for god knows how long. "I-I don't know." It wasn't a confession, but it definitely wasn't a rejection. "Where are we?"

"Outside the city," Nezumi whispered, not wanting to give more information, like the fact he was now in the slums of No. 6, because Shion was already freaking out. "Someone I know found you in the sewers, I've been searching for you for so long, where have you been?"

"I moved," Shion breathed, eyes unblinking as he took in Nezumi's appearance. He hadn't changed at all, "guards came and questioned me about you and then they stripped me and mum of everything."

"That doesn't explain how I lost you."

"We changed our names, we were forced to, and we moved to the opposite side of the city." Shion choked on a sob. "I woke up in a dungeon Nezumi; I was chained up like an animal and this man... this man wouldn't stop taunting me. I don't even know how I gto out; I cna't remember a thing."

Nezumi shook his head, arms instantly around Shion. He kissed Shion's neck gently, trying to change the topic so Shion wasn't as distressed by whispering against the skin, "I haven't stopped thinking about you."

"Nei…" Shion bit his lip, before he shook his head and smiled. He could worry about everything else later. "Neither have I."

Nezumi pulled away and pressed their lips together once more, both men closing their eyes, as Nezumi entwined his fingers within the back of Shion's now white hair and Shion put a hand to Nezumi's cheek. This was he'd been searching. This feeling. One night that involved one chaste, childish kiss, produced so many emotions within the rat and if he wasn't sure if that night meant anything (if it was a mistake) he was positive, now, that it did.

He saw sparks. He felt lightning between them. He loved it.


	8. Tracking

_"I still don't see the point in what we did, sir."_

 _"I don't pay you to think about my plans, I pay you to protect me."_

 _"But sir, we let the boy escape."_

 _"We didn't let him do anything and if you put me in the same category as me again, then I will kill you and replace you."_

 _"… I'll stand guard at your door, Sir."_

 _"Good boy, the dog's finally learning."_

* * *

All Nezumi wanted to do was make up for the lost years with Shion, but once Shion had gotten over the initial fear and shock from the ordeal he just wanted answers and Nezumi had, mistakenly, told him that the one he needed to talk to was Rikiga. The name hadn't registered in Shion's mind, so Nezumi was thankful for that, because it meant he didn't _think_ he ever had something to do outside of the walls of No. 6.

"Are you sure you can handle talking with him?"

"I can handle it." Nezumi sighed and he put a hand on Shion's knee, the younger one tensing at the touch, which Nezumi noted in his head that touching was something they'd have to work on. "I know you're… you're hiding something from me."

"What would I be hiding?"

"Ever since you mentioned him you've been avoiding my questions."

"What questions?"

"See!" Shion exclaimed, eyes going to Nezumi. "You've known me for a few days and, I'm sorry, but you don't have the right to protect me!"

The words shot Nezumi in the heart, but he kept his expression solid. "I care about you."

"That…" Shion trailed off, swallowing thickly and licking his suddenly dry lips. "I know and I-I haven't stopped thinking about you since _that_ night."

"But…"

"There's no but, I just, I'm sorry, but I'm just..." Shion sighed and forced the words out of his mouth. "I want to go back home, I want to find out who these people are and why-why _this_ -" Shion gestured to his new self, "-happened to me."

"Do you remember what happened before they locked you away?" Shion had briefly mentioned the dungeon he woke up in when he was in a panicked state last night, he's mentioned a man taking him, but what that was it and Nezumi couldn't pry for more information because Shion was confused and exhausted from the days events. However, he still had questions - the main one being how the hell did Shion end up in a mess like this.

Shion shook his head. "All I hear is a constant buzzing sound."

Before Nezumi could say another word there was a knock on the door. Rikiga. He'd asked the man to come to his home, because he didn't want anyone to recognise Shion and have the boy taken away from him again. Shion looked at the door and then looked back at Nezumi expectantly. The rat nodded. "Rikiga." He stood up from the bed, not wanting to chance it by kissing Shion, before he walked over to the door, unlocked it, and hesitantly opened it. Rikiga almost barged in, had it not been for Nezumi growling and putting an arm out. "Calm down you stupid old pimp," he hissed.

The pimp nodded, not wanting to scare Shion away. His heart pounded as he slowly walked into the room and his eyes landed on Shion, the muscle beating faster when he took in the boy's appearance. His expression moved into a frown. The boy was… different to say the least. "Shion… is that you?"

Shion looked down and bit his lip, Nezumi sensing his nervousness. "Something happened," the rat admitted sadly as he gestured for Rikiga to take a seat somewhere before he sat down beside Shion, about to put a hand on Shion's knee. His hand was in the air before he remembered Shion's earlier reaction and he clenched it before pulling it back down, hoping Shion didn't see the movement, but Shion wasn't one to miss something. "We can talk about that late, but first we have some… questions."

"How's Karan?" Rikiga asked as soon as he was sat down, ignoring Nezumi completely as his eyes were currently fixed on Shion.

Wavering slightly from the gaze, Shion moved his so they weren't on Rikiga, but he still looked as though he were listening to the pimp. Nezumi noticed. "How do you know my mother?"

"We worked together."

"Closely," Nezumi muttered underneath his breath as he glared at the brunette.

Rikiga was too entranced with Shion to spare Nezumi a thought. "You look like her."

"I did," Shion whispered sadly, suddenly feeling to urge to grab Nezumi's hand and, without thinking, he did. Nezumi froze at the movement, but he didn't dare to look down to see if it was a dream, because it was pretty obvious that Shion didn't realise that his hand was holding Nezumi's.

The expression of love on Rikiga's could have been mistaken as his feelings for Shion, but from the way the conversation started it was obvious that he only seemed to care for the boy because Karan's blood was running through his veins – not that Nezumi cared. "And how is she?" Rikiga seemed to disregard Shion's feelings.

"Can we just get to the point?" Nezumi snapped.

Rikiga frowned, but before he could speak Shion did, "it's fine," he whispered, more so to Nezumi. "My mum's fine. She's… she's never mentioned you before."

Rikiga's aura seemed to have dampened. "Oh…"

"But I'm sure she remembers you!" Shion immediately said, hoping he hadn't blown it before he'd even thought of the questions to ask Rikiga.

Rikiga's mood just worsened, so he quickly shook his head and changed the subject, but he couldn't keep the sadness from his voice. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything," Nezumi spoke.

"I was asking Shion."

Shion bit his lip and paused for a moment before he nodded. "I want to know how you know my mother."

"I told you; we worked together."

Nezumi narrowed his eyes. "He wants to know more than that."

Rikiga seemed hesitant to share the information, but eventually he groaned and did as he was told. "Your mother and I were partners at a science and technology research firm in the city. We worked on everything from designing technology for the future to testing animals and testing… humans."

"Humans?" Shion and Nezumi exclaimed.

Rikiga nodded sadly, looking down in shame. "We were told that they'd signed a form and had agreed to everything we were doing to them, but after a few years your mother told me that she'd found out about… she found out that…" Rikiga sighed. "She…"

"Spit it out!" Nezumi demanded, tightening his hold on Shion's hand as though he were trying to clench his hands into fists. Shion didn't even notice.

Rikiga swallowed thickly and looked into Nezumi's eyes as he spoke, "they were people taken from the streets – they ranged from homeless people looking for a dry place to spend the night to people in so much debt they had nothing to lose."

"And what did you do to them?"

"We were testing their body capacity."

"And what does that mean?" Shion asked, but the look on Rikiga's face, once he looked at the boy, told him he didn't want to know.

"It means we were seeing how much they could store before they shut down."

"For what?"

"The people we worked needed information on the human body, more than we already knew, so they could replicate it and then use the test subjects-"

"People?" Shion interrupted, voice full of anger because of how Rikiga could easily disregard a person's life; scientist or not.

Rikiga hesitated before he nodded. "Humans… we used the human's as test subjects and once we'd finished with someone, to the point where their body couldn't take anymore, we-we turned them into what we were creating. We turned innocent people into robots. Half-human and half-robot."

"My mother…" Shion trailed off, hand tightening on Nezumi's.

Rikiga nodded. "But once she found out and told me she left. I… I didn't believe her."

Nezumi frowned. Rikiga's voice wasn't just filled with sadness… it was filled with guilt, which meant that Rikiga wasn't giving Shion all the answers he wanted. Nezumi wasn't having that. "And?"

"And nothing."

"You answered too quickly, now spill."

"… You aren't going to like it."

"Try me."

Rikiga smiled, but all the other two could see was sadness and guilt. "I betrayed your mother, because I didn't believe her."

The room filled with a deathly silence, before Shion cleared his throat and carefully asked, "when you say you betrayed her…?"

The brunette shook his head and leant forward, burying his face in his hands. "She lost everything. The house… her status… your education was shattered."

"My… education…?"

Nezumi also frowned at the statement. This setting seemed… so… familiar…

His eyes widened as soon as he realised it. He looked at Shion, but the boy was just frowning in confusion. "Shion." Once their eyes locked the rat smiled. "It wasn't your fault… it wasn't your fault your mother lost everything." He said that, but inside Nezumi was screaming about how it wasn't _his_ fault.

"It wasn't?"

"Don't you see? The men that came to your house when I was there. It was him. He was the one who did it."

"What did I do?" Rikiga demanded as he pulled his head from his hands.

Nezumi turned his head to Rikiga and glared. He was being selfish for not accepting the blame, but if there was a way he could ease the guilt on his heart he'd take it. "You ruined Shion's life!" Rikiga still seemed confused and so did Shion… slightly. Nezumi growled. "How old was Shion when you betrayed Karan?"

"He was a teenager I think – or younger."

Nezumi turned his gaze back to Shion's, whose eyes were slowly widening in realisation. The rat smiled. Shion turned his head between Rikiga and Nezumi a few times before they landed on the brunette and he exclaimed, "my mother lost everything!"

"Whatever you're talking about-"

"It was the night before the storm. That's when you told them."

Rikiga's eyes seemed to widen slightly in realisation, but he was quick to go back to his stony expression. However, Nezumi didn't miss it. "They stormed his house and we thought it was because I was there and that… that was probably part of it, but-"

"Fine!" Rikiga shouted, on his feet in seconds. "It _was_ my fault you lost everything!"

Nezumi tried not to smile, but his aching heart full of guilt had finally vanished and he was ecstatic. However, before he could scream at Rikiga to leave his home and then hold Shion whilst he cried about the betrayal Shion spoke, "I forgive you."

The room felt like it had been silent for weeks, but in reality it was seconds.

"Shion…" Nezumi muttered in shock. How could he forgive the man that had destroyed his life? That was two faced. Shion had forgiven him, but to Nezumi that was different. They had something.

"Thank you!" Rikiga shouted, on his knees instantly and hands grabbing Shion's hands, taking the one from Nezumi's in a matter of seconds. "Thank you! Thank you so much! That's all I want, forgiveness, I didn't mean to do it, but I-I had no choice!"

"You obviously had a choice!"

"Nezumi," Shion whispered. "Please. I forgive him and so should you."

"You and your mother lost everything! You've been blaming yourself for so long!"

"And now I don't have to so please just leave it... for me."

Nezumi was hesitant. But it wasn't his place to say anything against it, so he just nodded mutely and waited until Rikiga had let go of Shion's hands before he spoke, "sit down and keep talking."

Rikiga nodded and did as he was told. He seemed less hesitant than before and it was obvious that a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "What else do you want to know?" Rikiga's entire demeanour had changed and it freaked out Shion slightly, but if it meant he could get more answers, then he'd put up with it.

"I-I want to know what you were doing with those people."

Rikiga answered, but his voice betrayed his expression, because of the touchy subject they were talking about. "All we were told was that we were researching the human body and enhancing its features, but we focused mostly on copying it. The research helped us to develop the city into something that relied on robots in everyday life with human's only working behind the scenes. They weren't the only things we were researching."

"What else?"

"Bugs." Both men waited for Rikiga to expand, the brunette sighing and, eventually, doing so, "we were told to create weapons that couldn't be discovered and your mother thought of insects." Nezumi snickered, but Rikiga just glared angrily at him. "You think robots as small as bugs that can kill you with one prick are funny?"

"No, I-"

"It's not funny," Shion whispered. "I-I… they attacked me."

"What?" The other two exclaimed, Nezumi's eyes widening and his eyes going straight to Shion.

"All I can hear is buzzing. It must be a side effect, right?" Shion calmly asked.

"You were attacked by one?" Rikiga demanded.

"I-I only just realised it. You mentioning the bugs made me think of the buzzing I've been hearing."

"You hear buzzing?"

"Constantly and it would explain the change in my… my appearance."

Rikiga shook his head. "You'd be dead."

"Then why does he hear buzzing?" Nezumi asked, narrowing his eyes at the pimp.

"I don't know!" Rikiga exclaimed. "All I know is that he'd be dead! With these bugs you only need to receive a scratch from them and you're dead."

"Then why did I wake up in a freaking dungeon?" Shion shouted. "I woke up tied up, so I must have discovered something. I must have found something and-and they tied me up… they must have…"

Rikiga shook his head sadly. "I wish I could tell you, but I don't know why they'd take you – I don't know who'd take you."

"Tell him about the tracker," Nezumi hissed, waiting to mention it and now seemed as good as a time as any, because all Nezumi wanted to do was turn Shion against the man who'd destroyed his family.

"What tracker?"

Rikiga sighed. "Some papers I found said that there was a tracker inside of you."

"Me?" Shion exclaimed, hand going to his chest in shock. "There's a tracker in me? Why?"

"I think it may be something to do with Karan. They probably didn't want to lose sight of her."

"Do you know for sure?"

"Well I don't-"

"Then we have to think that they want Shion," Nezumi hissed. "We have to think like that until we have evidence that says otherwise."

"What else would they want Shion for?"

"He got hurt by a bug and survived!"

"We don't know that!"

"He's not a liar!"

"I'm not calling-"

"Please stop arguing," Shion begged, both men actually listening to him -Nezumi because of the sound of sadness in his voice and Rikiga stopping, because he knew that Nezumi would have killed him if he didn't obey the younger boy. "I-I just want to process all of this before I start to focus on the tracker inside of me."

Nezumi nodded in agreement and then set his sights on Rikiga. "It's time for you to go."

"But we still need to-"

"Out," Nezumi demanded when he saw tears brimming Shion's eyes. All of this information was just too much to handle for the poor boy. Rikiga hesitated, eyes going to Shion and noticing the tears. His eyes locked with Nezumi who just glared at him and Rikiga slowly nodded before he stood up.

"I'm reading through my files tonight, so expect a visit from me tomorrow."

Once Rikiga was gone Nezumi turned his body slightly, about to speak, but Shion beat him to it. "You believe me… don't you?"

There was a pause and for a moment Shion thought he was going to say the same as Rikiga did, but Nezumi wouldn't dare destroy what they had. "I'd never call you a liar."

"I'm asking you if you believe me."

"There can't be another reason for the buzzing sound, so of course I believe you. How could I not?"

"Because I'm lying."


	9. Realisation

**Short, short, _short_ chapter, because writers block is a fucking killer.**

* * *

"So you're… lying?"

"What do you think?"

"I think-" Nezumi set a hand on Shion's cheek, "-that you're trying to get a reaction out of me."

"Is it working?" Shion closed his eyes, smiling when Nezumi frowned, before he opened his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry." Shion grabbed the hand on his cheek, pulling it from his face before mumbling, "I'm not lying; it just t feels like I am." Shoin shook his head with a smile. "I'm being silly, I'm sorry, don't listen to me."

"You're not. This is probably too much for you to handle. Since I came into your life everything's being going wrong, so I should be the one to apologise."

"Don't... something was bound to go wrong eventually." Shion put a hand on his chest. "Something's inside of me, I know for a fact there is, because nobody would have kidnapped me if I wasn't important."

"I trust you and at the end of the day I don't give a fuck about Rikiga's opinion. It's yours that matters to me."

Shion shook his head, tucking his hair behind his ears and whispering, "you don't even know me, hell, I don't even know you."

"I'm not going to hurt you."

Shion felt like he shouldn't trust him, but inside something was screaming at him to take a chance. "I… I know you won't."

"Then that's all you need to know." Nezumi gripped Shion's chin with his thumb and index finger, forcing Shion to look at him and the smiling. "We'll sort it out, because now that I've found you I'm going nowhere." He placed a chaste kiss to Shion's forehead. "Absolutely-" a kiss to his cheek, making Shion's eyes slip close. "-nowhere," he finally muttered, pressing his lips to Shion's and resisting the urge to cheer for joy when Shion relaxed against Nezumi's lips and set a hand to the back of the rat's head. He was enjoying it just as much as Nezumi was. When they pulled away, Nezumi was ready to leave it at that, but after a few breaths his lips were attacked by Shion – not that he was complaining. Nezumi groaned into the kiss, tilting his head to the side and setting a hand in Shion's hair, massaging his scalp and stroking through his hair. He resisted the urge to smirk in triumph when he felt Shion melt against him. In the need for air, Shion and Nezumi pulled away from each other, gulping in air before Nezumi smiled, Shion doing the same and letting out a small laugh.

"I've been waiting years to do that."

"You didn't forget about me?"

"Of course not. You're the first person in my life that's ever acted like this to me. I'm in your debt forever." Nezumi put his hands on Shion's cheeks, stroking underneath Shion's eyes with his thumbs before he muttered, "I care about you so fucking much and-and I don't know why my feelings are so strong, but I'm so glad that it's you I feel so strongly about."

"I do too. I really do. But we can't take things too far. We've only just met, I mean, seriously met, we need to go slow and just-just sort out this mess before we jump into anything."

"I know," Nezumi whispered. "We'll take thing slow." Nezumi nudged forward, smiling when Shion didn't move back, so he pressed his lips to Shion's once more, this time with a more heated intention. Shion groaned when Nezumi tilted his head to the side, deepening the kiss. Nezumi nibbled on Shion's lip, pulling on it before he went back to kissing Shion, his tongue inside and mapping out the wet cavern. A pair of arms wound their way around Nezumi's neck, Nezumi's hands going to Shion's thigh and back of Shion's head, gripping the locks tightly, but not tight enough to make it painful for the albino. When they pulled away in need of air, Shion leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Nezumi's lips, pulling away to leave the sensation of each toher's lips on one another's. Nezumi cleared his throat, dropping his hand from Shion's face before he spoke, "we need to sort out this mess. There are people after you and they might be after me as well."

"Why you?"

"They brought you to me with a tracker inside of you for a reason."

"But I don't even know why they're after me let alone you," Shion sadly admitted, pulling his arms from Nezumi's neck and resting them on the rat's shoulders. "I really have no idea."

"Neither do I, shit, neither does Rikiga. Do you know anything about your mother that'll help us make sense of this mess?"

Shion shook his head. "Nothing. I didn't even know mother worked, because she-she never worked – since I can remember she's never worked."

"This doesn't make sense," Nezumi muttered.

"I had no idea she was like that, I swear I didn't."

"Did she even mention it? Hint towards it?"

"She told me she studied science, but that was it, she always changed the subject and distracted me. I guess whatever this is, is what she was hiding."

"So something really is wrong, I mean, if everything was alright then she would have mentioned her past," Nezumi muttered.

Shion bit his lip. "What do we do?"

Nezumi shook his head with a small sigh. There was an option, but not an option he would want to partake in. However, they really didn't have that much of a choice. "I… I think I have a plan."

"I feel like there's a but coming."

Nezumi nodded, an almost sad smile gracing his lips. "But it may end in one of us not coming back-" the rat swallowed thickly, "-alive."


	10. Plan

**I know it's been long, but I'm here now with a long(ish) chapter! I'm actually really proud of this chapter ahaha, had soooo much inspiration. I know it's a bit like m _ove on, stop dragging it out_ , but I was like you need to write in a fluffy, planning, get the squad together moment before people start dying! Oops... spoiler alert...**

 **Inukashi is misunderstood, that's all, he's a sweet cupcake, really, I swear.**

 **Two (or three) more chapters' left :(((((**

* * *

 _The dump truck was going to visit the town tomorrow and when it did, Nezumi and Shion were going get captured. They'd put up a small fight before they get chucked into the back of the truck and driven to the correctional facility. Rikiga would drive to the facility and drop Inukashi off, who would break in and look on the cameras to check that Nezumi and Shion were still alive, unlock the doors so they could get out and get back to Rikiga in time -all the whilst not getting caught_ _. Rikiga would send Nezumi a signal that told him he had ten minutes to get the truck, otherwise they'd leave without him, and then the two would wait for Shion and Nezumi. When they arrived safely, Rikiga would drive them off into the distance with the much needed information on what was inside Shion, what they wanted with him and what they were planning to do with him next._

 _Simple._

 ** _L/I/N/E/B/R/E/A/K/_**

"That plan is a fucking joke," Rikiga muttered, throwing the papers onto the desk. "First off, how do I even get a truck to drive the dog there?"

"I'm not a dog," Inukashi muttered, Rikiga swallowing and nodding because with a flick of Inukashi's wrist, Rikiga could get mauled by a dog.

"Still, what even is this plan? You're going to get yourselves killed."

"Have you got a better idea?" Nezumi hissed.

"I have one; stay here," Inukashi voiced.

"We have to go to figure out this mess."

"Not when it's so simple!" Inukashi exclaimed. "They want Shion for some reason and you're protecting him from those bastards, but, to me, the simplest thing to do is to leave it alone because if there is a tracker inside Shion's body then they're going to know that you're there – they'll kill both of you. Just leave it and start fighting when they actually come here to take Shion away."

"Maybe Inukashi's right?" Shion asked, Nezumi glaring at the albino and shaking his head. "Nezumi… they'll know we're there if they look at the tracker."

"If they knew that you were here then they'd be fighting to get you, but they're not, so they don't care," Nezumi argued.

"Or they're playing with us," Inukashi countered, narrowing his eyes when Nezumi turned his glare back onto him. "Those bastards like to play a game and they've been chasing you for years, so nothing's changed; this is still a game."

"Inukashi's right," Rikiga muttered, Inukashi tearing his gaze to look at Rikiga with wide eyes, because the man never agreed with him. Inukashi was sure that the other wouldn't agree with him even if it were a life or death situation. "Why play their game when you can plan for when they do attack and stop them then?"

"Because it'll save Shion."

"You could find someone to get the tracker out."

"It'll kill him in the process!"

"Or someone will shoot at him in the facility and then they'll shoot you or fucking torture you!" Rikiga shouted. Shion flinched it and tensed up, trying to hide himself away because he hated it. He knew that Nezumi was putting his lfie at risk and for that he felt so guilty. "Just admit it Nezumi! You have absolutely no idea about what will happen if you go into that facility."

"That's not true," Shion retorted. "He's already told me that we may die."

"Then why go through with it?"

"He doesn't have to! It's me they're tracking, but he won't let me go on my own and I have no idea about how to do it on my own. I-I don't want him to get hurt, but he'll go… even if I don't go with him."

Nezumi's expression softened as he looked over to Shion before he looked at Inukashi and whispered a feeble, "please."

"What?"

"Please help me Inukashi."

"Or what? You're going to blackmail me?" Inukashi rolled his eyes. He'd help, because Nezumi always made him, even if he'd rather die than help Nezumi always made him do it.

"I'll sing to you if you die, I already said that, but to do that you need me alive. If I die it'll because you weren't there to unlock the doors and then, when you die, you'll die alone."

The room was silent before Inukashi growled. "Fucker," he spat. "I'll help you, but not because of you-" Inukashi pointed at Shion, "-I'll help because I don't want to die alone." Inukashi dropped his hand and glared at Rikiga. "You're helping too because I don't want that rat to die before I do."

"Why? I have no reason in wanting to help." Rikiga leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not risking my freedom for this."

"Freedom!" Nezumi snorted. "What freedom? We're trapped in this god forsaken town, starving to death and getting dumped like trash because we're outcasts. We have no freedom here because the government is controlling us like puppet masters."

Rikiga shook his head. "I'm not helping."

"Not even for my mother?" Shion asked, all eyes going to him. Shion knew it was a low blow, but they needed Rikiga. "I don't want to die without at least saying goodbye to her. She'll be a wreck if she finds out I'm dead and you don't want that, do you?"

"Ka… Karan…"

"Please Rikiga, I'll even tell my mother that you want to see her, that you helped to save me, please just help us get into the facility."

Nezumi and Inukashi looked at Rikiga, the pimp swallowing before standing. "I need some air." The room was silent as the other walked out, Shion chewing on his bottom lip when the door shut with a little too much force. Inukashi was the one to break the silence with a snort.

"Wow, Nezumi, it hasn't even been that long and already you're rubbing off on him." Inukashi smirked and looked at Shion. "Blackmail, wow, how low can someone get?"

Shion shook his head and looked at Nezumi with wide eyes. "I'm sorry if I said something stupid, but we... we need him," he muttered, looking down and expression dropping in fear that he'd just blown the entire plan. "Do you think he'll come around."

Nezumi, not wanting to see Shion so upset, took Shion's chin between his thumb and index finger. "I'll go and talk to him, but he'll come around, I promise he will." Nezumi pressed a gentle kiss to Shion's cheek, standing and heading straight to the door, Inukashi laughing when it shut.

"Jesus!" He cried, expression in a look of awe when Shion looked at him. "You have him wrapped around your little finger and it's been what? A few days. He hates me and I've been around him for so much longer than you have."

Shion frowned. "I'm sure he doesn't-"

"He does! He looks at you with eyes full of love and he looks at me with eyes full a hate – maybe a hint of begging every now and then he wants something, but that's all; hate."

"You're… crying…"

Inukashi gasped and touched his cheeks. It was wet. He stood and was about to leave, but a hand around his wrist stopped him. He growled. "Get off me," he hissed. Shion shook his head and instead of keeping the grip on his wrist, he pulled Inukashi into his chest, arms wrapping around the back of the other. The first thing Inukashi did was tense up and gasp. He wanted to break away but the grasp was so warm and, surprisingly, so strong. "I-I… I love him," he admitted, closing his eyes and allowing the tears to fall down his eyes freely. "I love him so much but he hates me." Nothing was forcing him to tell Shion, but it was like the albino had a hold over him, because he was spilling his soul to his rival.

"If I'm in the way…"

"Not like that!" Inukashi yelled. "I love him like family you idiot. He's the first person I actually trust – after my dogs. He uses me whenever he wants something and that's literally all I am to him; he doesn't care about me, but you… he doesn't even know you, he hasn't even known you for as long as I have. I've known him ten time, twenty times, for-for so much longer than you."

"We're connected."

"That's bull shit."

"I know it's hard to believe but every time he speaks or when we look at each other my entire body gets hot and my brain feels fuzzy."

"You love him."

"Ye-yeah. It's fast, I know, but that's what I feel towards him; love."

Inukashi sighed into the embrace, mumbling, "I don't hate you; I'm just jealous of you."

"I'm jealous of you."

"Me!" Inukashi exclaimed with a snort. "I'm an asshole towards you and every time we speak I act like you're the most disgusting guy on the planet. Why would you be jealous of me?"

"You've known Nezumi longer."

"That-that's… true. But you and he have a bond; you said it yourself."

"He goes to you when he needs help; you're his rock in this place," Shion whispered with a laugh. "I'm jealous because he thinks I'm not strong, the first person he thinks of is you."

* * *

"Are you going to do it or what?"

"Of course I'm going to do it; I can't let Karan's son down." Rikiga groaned and collapsed on a rock, leaning forward and burying his face against his hands, elbows on his knees. "Even if Inukashi and I join you, you're still going to die."

"We won't."

"The tracker will probably be wired, so as soon as Shion steps foot in that facility alarms will go off. They'll kill you and either capture or kill Shion. Is finding everything out really worth that risk?" Rikiga dropped his hands from his face and turned to look at Nezumi, carrying on before he could argue. "Don't say something about doing it for Shion or it'll be worth it because you can find out about what they want with Shion, because if they catch you it'll be all for nothing."

"Shion needs me," Nezumi muttered, sitting on the rock beside Rikiga, not touching him, but close enough that Rikiga could consider the gesture friendly. "I don't know what it is, but I feel something pulling me to the facility and I feel a spark between Shion and I. I'm not going to ignore it."

"A spark? That's such a cliché."

"It's the truth. An electric shock is sent through my body every time I look at him."

Rikiga groaned and stood. "I don't need to hear it; let's just get this over with, yeah."

"There's another part of the plan."

" I take it you're telling me because it's something you don't want Shion to know about?"

"You know as well as I do that the dump truck isn't going to start picking up people unless someone's hurt – one of their lot is hurt. If that doesn't happen then we won't even get to the correctional facility."

"What have you done?"

"Nothing… yet."

* * *

They'd decided on sleeping at Rikiga's place – only because Inukashi and Rikiga refused to let Shion and Nezumi go because Nezumi like to take things on by himself and if he heard the dump truck in the morning he'd run off by himself. Shion agreed, but only because he didn't want Nezumi to leave without him. Rikiga had locked the doors, well, the front door, and stayed in his study whilst Inukashi went to the couch and Shion and Nezumi moved onto the guest bedroom.

Rikiga didn't sleep a wink.

He'd been looking through his notes, looking through the plans of the old correntional facility's layout and adding the details Nezumi had mentioned. Inukashi had moved into the study and joined him after a few hours, not being able to sleep either, but he was able to redraw the plan out for Nezumi and Shion to take with them. Inukashi knew that Nezumi would ignore the plans in favour of following his rats, but the keeper needed to know that he'd done as much as he could have to help Nezumi. He could always hope that Shion would keep the plans.

Shion and Nezumi hadn't fared much better with sleeping.

Shion was exhausted and had a few hours of sleep, but Nezumi barely slept a wink. He held Shion close and stroked his hair softly, kissing and whispering to the sleeping male to calm his racing heart. When Shion woke up they shared gentle kisses and soft reassurances. They spoke about love, the what if's, feelings of anger and betrayal wiht the system, trying to get Shion's memories back, they stayed silent, listened to each others breathing, tightening their grips on each other when they heard noises outside, but nothing helped to settle the nerves both were feeling.

Within hours they heard the dump truck.

It was a low grumbling, but everyone knew what it sounded like, because it was what people around here had nightmares about.

Nezumi jolted into a sitting position before he got up from the bed, still dressed in yesterday's clothes, and looked down at Shion, the other biting his bottom lip and nodding. They shared a firm kiss, tongues touch and teeth grazing, before Nezumi forced himself away from the others mouth. Nezumi had walked out of the guest room and headed straight to Rikiga's study, faltering when Rikiga pushed his way past Nezumi. The rat turned and watched him go into the guest room, probably to say goodbye to Shion, and thought about following him before someone clearing their throat caught his attention. He'd turned to Inukashi and frowned when he saw the expression the other was wearing. Nezumi lived for reading people but right now he didn't know whether Inukashi was happy that he was going or sad for his departure; it was an impossible reading task.

"Are you sure that everything's going be okay?" Inukashi asked, Nezumi taken back by the amount of emotion in his voice. Usually Inukashi was never one to show emotion unless he was angry.

"I know what I'm doing."

"Until you go to the facility."

"I've been there hundreds of times before."

"Not where the files are kept, where the guards go to relax, where they know everyone and know if there's a stranger about. You're going to get caught."

"I'm surprised that you're worried."

"I'm selfish; I don't want to die alone."

Nezumi reached out and set a hand on Inukashi's shoulder. "I promised that I'd sing to you so that's what I'm going to do. You're not going to die alone Inukashi."

Inukashi drew his lips into a thin line, eyes going to Shion as he appeared before he shrugged off the touch and wandered over to the albino, stopping to make a threat, "if you don't bring him back alive I swear I'll kill you without hesitation -even if it means breaking into the facility."

Shion, physically, took a step back, eyes following the keeper out of the room before he smiled and nodded at his departing figure. He looked over at Nezumi and his smile dropped slightly. He walked over to the rat and clasped his hand around Nezumi's.

"We're in this together."

Nezumi nodded and tightened his grip around Shion's hand. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

Nezumi pulled Shion towards the door, setting a hesitant hand on the handle. "You know that I can go alone."

"And you know that I won't let you do that."

"I want you to be safe."

"I want you to be safe too, now, are we doing this?"

Nezumi smirked and opened the door, growling and squinting when sand started flowing at them. "Don't let go of my hand."


	11. Making a Discovery

**I WANTED TO UPLOAD IT BECAUSE IT'S BEEN MONTHS SO I APOLOGISE IF IT'S A RUSHED JOB T_T**

* * *

Shion's hand trembled in Nezumi's hand and Nezumi squeezed it tightly in return, pulling it up and kissing his knuckles gently. "Don't let go of my hand," he murmured, smirking when Shion squeezed his hand. The pain of the grip didn't matter to him, because his entire body was numb from anticipation. Nezumi glanced to a smashed window above, making out the face of Rikiga and Inukashi. He couldn't hold in a snort; as angry as Inukashi acted, he was more scared than Shion was. "Come on." Nezumi started walking to the sound of the rumbling, pulling Shion along with him. It wasn't long before they met the dumper truck head on. People ran, shoving them but not helping.

 _Out here you were on your own._

Nezumi spared a glance at Shion before he pulled the younger one to the truck, a guard immediately spotting them. He didn't look surprised, which was normal because many a person who'd given up on life out here would contemplate suicide by jumping in front of the truck of just allowing themselves to be taken away because life out here was the same as life inside the facility. Hell.

"Two more!" Nezumi heard, his grip on Shion tightening when the truck stopped and the guard jumped down, laughing as he shoved the two boys into the truck.

Shion froze at the doorway and Nezumi had to quickly pull him in because the guard was already closing the doors. Nezumi pulled Shion into one of the far corners of the truck, pulling Shion until he was sat and then wrapping his arms around Shion – practically pulling the boy onto his lap. Shion gripped Nezumi's forearms, taking in the sight of children, women, men, the elderly.

He swallowed thickly.

"How many times do they do this?"

"Every two weeks – or one if they need more."

"And there's still people to take."

Nezumi smirked. "People get banished from No. 6 every fucking day Shion; you got taken which is the same as being banished."

"I never… never knew."

"They wouldn't teach you stuff like this at school." Nezumi sighed, kissing the top of Shion's head. "Just relax and we'll get through this."

By the time Nezumi heard the familiar sound of metal creaking into place, Shion had fallen asleep. Actually, everyone was asleep. Nezumi would be too if he didn't know he had to be prepared for what was to come. He'd been on the dump truck so many time before that it was only on the last couple of rides he'd realised that the truck drives aimlessly for hours until everyone's relaxed and not on guard for what was to come. Nezumi was like that the first time too.

"Shion," he muttered, gently shaking the other. "Shion, we're nearly there so wake up." Shion groaned before Nezumi felt him squirm in his arms and he quickly relaxed the grip he had on the boy. "Sorry," he murmured. He snorted, shaking his head. "Shit... I'm sorry for everything."

Shion frowned, looking up and trying to make out Nezumi's face in the dark lighting. "Why are you saying that?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because it sounds like you're giving up."

"Shion, if I had just left you alone that night – let myself get caught…" Nezumi trailed off, sighing.

Shion smiled. "If you hadn't of found me I don't know what would have happened."

"What about if you weren't taken? If you had never of met me, where would you be now?"

Shion didn't hesitate. "Married."

Nezumi nearly choked. "Seriously?!"

"The night I met you my best friend kissed my cheek and hinted towards a relationship. At first I was naive but the older I got the more I realised that she liked me in a different way than I liked her."

"You would have married her even if you didn't love her?"

"It's a normal thing to do."

Nezumi smirked. "Good thing I broke into your room then," he murmured, pressing a chaste kiss to Shion's temple, but he couldn't stop himself from grimacing as the words had left his lips. It was a lie. He'd screwed up Shion's life the minute he'd broken into the room. "We're nearly at the facility," he whispered, pulling away in a defeated motion.

"How do you know?"

"I've been here a few times; breaking in and breaking out."

"I've never asked you about the facility."

Nezumi tightened his grip on Shion. "You mean why I was taken?" Shion nodded against Nezumi's chest, Nezumi sighing before he spoke, "honestly, I have no idea. Our situations are different, but from what you've told me, it sounds like you were also in the facility."

"But you didn't tell me that."

Nezumi shrugged. "Because you had enough on your plate."

"So, they-they locked you up in cells?"

"Thankfully that was all they ever did." Shion closed his eyes, shaking his head. Nezumi smiled. "It's fine Shion, seriously, as I got older I found out how to escape so every time I was taken I was out again in no time. Every time I was here on the dump truck I knew how to get back ho... home." Nezumi stuttered over the last word, ebcause even though he said it out loud it wasn't his home. He was an outcast with no home.

Shion ignored the stutter. "Did they ever tell you why they kept taking you?"

"I suppose it's because of where I was born." Nezumi shook his head when the familiar sound of wheels screeching to a halt entered his ears. "Hold onto me," he whispered, nodding when the other linked his arms around his waist. "And whatever you do, _don't_... let go."

Shion opened his mouth, but all he let out was a shout muffled by the front of Nezumi's shirt.

Suddenly, gravity was pulling them down. Shion had to close his eyes, tears springing into them as his body collided with the floor and Nezumi's arms fell from him. Shion felt the world spinning, he could hear it shouting, before everything went silent, still, and black.

 **Wakey, wakey Shion**

 **Come on sleepy head**

 **We still need you Shion**

 _ **I still need you**_

 **You're so close... so close to me...**

When Shion opened his eyes, he was met with a blurry, yet familiar, face. He smiled weakly. "Hi."

Nezumi growled, pulling Shion against his chest. "Don't scare me like that again; I thought you were dead."

"I thought I was dead too," Shion admitted, eyes widening when Nezumi's lips were suddenly pressed against his. He relaxed, setting a hand to the back of Nezumi's head and smiling when Nezumi pulled away. However, before he could focus on the fluttering in his stomach and the tingle on his lips, a musky scent entered his nose. Shion turned his head to the side and froze.

His eyes connected to a dead body's.

Shion scramble dot his feet, Nezumi holding him close in case he fell, but Shion quickly shook off the hold, taking careful steps back until he was away from Nezumi and the boy, but his eyes were still wide and frightened as they locked onto the mountain of dead bodies behind the one he'd woken up to.

"What is the hell this place?"

"This is where people in the truck go. If they don't get killed on the way down, they'll starve to death, resort to cannibalism and kill other survivors, get shot when the guards come and move some of the bodies or just… commit suicide," Nezumi muttered the last part, unconsciously tracing across his neck with the pad of his fingers.

"You mean they literally get-get _dumped_."

"It's called a dump truck for a reason," Nezumi hissed, expression softening when he saw Shion shaking. Nezumi was behind Shion in an instant, arms wrapping around the front of Shion's chest as Nezumi kissed the side of Shion's head. "Sorry Shion, but this is what happens to people like me; we're banished and then dumped when the government need more room for people who are banished."

Shion shook his head. "I never gave anything like this a thought; I knew people lived outside No. 6 but nothing… I didn't think… of this. It's inhumane Nezumi; there was children in that truck."

"We're not humans out here," Nezumi mused, taking in the sight of dead bodies before he started pulling on Shion. "We need to leave Shion."

"But-"

"Do it for them," Nezumi cut in, stopping and setting his hands on Shion's cheeks. "They're dead because of people who think they're Gods."

"And what can we do to help them Nezumi? They're dead!"

Nezumi stroked away a stray tear tracing one of the scars on Shion's face. "We can find out about that _thing_ inside you and then we can… we can make the people who did this to them pay." Nezumi hesitantly let go of Shion's cheeks, pulling something from the back of his pants.

Shion's eyes widened and he took a step back. "A Gun?"

"All they do is hurt people Shion; we take them down and we can get revenge for them-" Nezumi gestured to the mountain behind Shion, "-it's what those bastards deserve."

"Was this your plan all along?"

"I promised myself that if I ever came back I wouldn't let it be a waste of an opportunity."

Shion shook his head, fingers gripping at his tussled locks. "This can't be happening," he muttered like a mantra.

"I'll only kill them if you want me to."

"You brought a gun without telling me!"

"I'll only kill them if you tell me to Shion, I swear it."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Do you really think I'd put your life in danger?"

"That's not what I'm asking."

Nezumi sighed, not wanting to add to the tension, so he turned and made his way around the mountain of bodies. "We need to find out what's in your body." Shion clenched his hands into fists, chewing at his bottom lips before he followed Nezumi. "Stay close," Nezumi called, lips twitching slightly when Shion appeared beside him. He reached out, but Shion was quick to duck the touch.

"Don't touch me."

Nezumi faltered in his steps before he dropped his hand and nodded. "I'm not doing this for myself," Nezumi weakly muttered, turning and gesturing to a wall. "There's a hidden door there."

"Has anyone tried to use it before?"

"Survivors do, but at the wrong time. If they waste too much time looking for it the guards are already there, getting ready to come in and shoot the place up."

"How did you find it then?"

"The dog keeper." Nezumi set a palm to the wall, tracing the metal before there was a rumble and light started to appear. "Stay close to me in case there's a guard."

"Okay."

Nezumi managed to smile, but it soon dropped when the doors opened fully. Thankfully, there were no guards, so the two were able to sneak into the facility unnoticed. Nezumi pressed his back against a wall, Shion doing the same so their shoulders were touching. Nezumi looked to his shoulder and smirked when he saw a rat. "You know what to do," he murmured, watching the rat scurry down his arm and onto the floor before he vanished from sight.

"Where is, he going?"

"He'll look for a safe route. We wait until he comes back."

"And if he doesn't?"

"We'll have to chance it." Nezumi clenched his hands into fists, keeping his guard up but turning his gaze onto Shion. "I'm sorry."

"You've said that."

"Look, Shion, if we die here I don't want to die knowing that you hate me."

"I don't hate you Nezumi; I just thought you were different to the guards here."

"They kill people for fun Shion. I don't. That's how we're different." Nezumi linked his and Shion's fingers together, squeezing Shion's hand softly. "Do you want me to use it?" Shion shook his head. "Then I won't use it, okay, trust me."

Shion snorted. "How could I not trust you? After all you've done for me." Shion bit his lip, nervous, but shook his head and looked up at Nezumi, smile shining on his lips. "I'm glad I met you Nezumi."

Nezumi smiled, nodding and pressed a faint kiss to the corner to Shion's lips. "Same here," he murmured, pressing a kiss to Shion's lips before squeaking interrupted him. He looked to the floor and nodded, looking back up at Shion. "You ready?"

Shion swallowed. "Let's go."

* * *

"Do you really think this plan is going to work?"

"Do you?"

The keeper glared at Rikiga before he set his eyes back onto the dusty road in front of them. "It's going to fail."

"Then why are you going along with it, wait, I don't actually have to ask."

"What's that supposed to mean," Inukashi snapped, glare back on the pimp, expression deepening when he saw a smirk on the pimp's lips. "Speak dammit!"

"You like Nezumi."

Inukashi's mouth opened, agape, before he furiously shook his head. "No way! Absolutely no way I could be in love with that fucking rat!"

Rikiga hummed. "Love?" He mused. "I never mentioned love."

"I don't love him," Inukashi mumbled, eyes back on the road.

Rikiga glanced at the keeper before choking up a laugh. "I'm teasing."

"You're not," Inukashi hissed. "It may look like-like whatever it looks like but I only tolerate him because he's a good customer and he… he promised…" Inukashi trailed off, shaking his head.

Rikiga's brows raised. "Go on."

Inukashi stayed silent – until the silence got the better of him. "Fine! He promised me he wouldn't let me die alone. He said he'd sing to me."

"So, that's what he's always blackmailing you about?"

"It's my own fault for letting him find out about my biggest fear."

"You should be regretting telling me then. I could kill you right now if I wanted to and you'd die alone."

Inukashi's eyes widened, hand on the car seat tightening. "Don't even joke about that! Shit! I don't even know why I talk to you!"

Rikiga shrugged his shoulders, smirk slowly turning his expression into a look of sadness. "I'm a lonely old pimp who's been in love with the same woman since he was a teenager." Rikiga glanced at Inukashi out of the corner of his eye. "My weakness."

Inukashi just nodded, turning his head so he was looking out of the side window. He frowned when he saw the tracks of dust behind them. "It's so dusty," he muttered."

"We're in a desert."

"But we shouldn't… Rikiga, the plan was that we'd go and rescue those two idiots, right?"

"Right," Rikiga repeated, frowning.

Inukashi swallowed, eyes going back to the front window. "Well, we have company."

* * *

 _Getting into the facility was the easy part. Navigating around the facility was impossible. Getting out of the facility, well, Nezumi's luck had to run out some time._

Nezumi and Shion were currently running blind through hallways as they followed a rat whilst hoping to the gods that the rat hadn't been hijacked and was instead leading them to a trap. Nezumi had faith. Shion didn't. He trusted Nezumi. Past tense. How could Shion trust someone who lied his way into the facility? Shion didn't even trust that Nezumi wouldn't use the gun. Why would Nezumi forget about the gun in his pants because a boy that had saved him years ago, from the cold told him to? Nezumi had been waiting for years to kill the people in the facility and nothing had changed. Except, this time, Nezumi had an escape plan. Shion shook the thoughts out of his head, trying to focus on Nezumi when the niggling voice at the back of his head started taunting him.

Nezumi started to slow down, Shion doing the same. "What is it?" Shion asked, frowning, before his gaze landed on the door blocking their path.

"A-a door… I've never been this way before Shion."

Shion's eyes widened in realisation and he looked back at the sound of shouting.

Guards. They were going to get caught.

"What are we going to do Nezumi!" Shion demanded, rushing in front of him and grabbing his arms. "We're going to get killed if we don't get out of here! We can forget about it, come back when we know how to get through the door!"

Nezumi shook his head. He'd been in the facility countless times, but never here. He knew as soon as they took the second turn that he was lost, that if the doors weren't open they were going to get caught, that they were already dead. He could have turned back, could have warned Shion so the boy could have at least found a way out. Nezumi swallowed and looked back at the pack of guards before he dropped his arms to the side and turned. It was now or never.

"Stay there," he spat when he felt Shion grab his arm again. Nezumi started walking, hands going to grab the gun in the back of his pants. Sound fell on deaf ears and his mind focused on one thing; killing the people who screwed him over.

Shion's eyes widened and his mind got the better of him. He couldn't let Nezumi kill anyone. Even if they were going to die, he wouldn't let Nezumi die a murderer.

He was standing in front of Nezumi in seconds, shaking his head. "Don't!" He begged.

"There's no way out Shion! I cna distract them and you can live!"

"We stay together! You said we might die Nezumi! But you promised you wouldn't kill anyone!"

"I don't want you to die!"

"So you want me to hate you!"

 _PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN. I REPEAT; PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN._

"Go fuck yourself!" Nezumi yelled, aiming the gun, but freezing when Shion spread out his arms. "Shion move out of the way!"

"No."

"I'll shoot you Shion."

"Exactly. You shoot and you kill me." Shion forced a smile to his lips, tears pricking his eyes. "You dont' ahve to do this Nezumi. Put the gun down and will be fine.

"They'll kill us Shion."

"We'll be together... I won't die hating you."

Nezumi opened his mouth, ready to argue but suddenly shots were fired and he couldn't stop himself from pulling the trigger.

Shion gasped, choking on breath. He started falling, his entire body full of pain. His back connected with the floor and his eyes slipped close. He looked down, expecting blood, but there was no blood.

Only electricity.

* * *

 **Spoiler alert… they may not be human… I don't know why I did this T_T**

 **NEXT CHAPTER = SHION AND NEZUMI'S PAST**


End file.
